Jury orders Ford to pay software company US$105 million in trade secrets case

NEW YORK: A federal jury in Detroit ordered Ford Motor Co to pay Versata Software US$104.6 million in damages for breaching a 2004 licensing contract and misappropriating trade secrets.

Jurors deliberated over two days before holding Ford liable on Wednesday, following a 15-day trial.

Versata, based in Austin, Texas, said it licensed its automotive software to Ford from 1998 to 2015, helping the automaker's engineers and marketing agents collaborate on and design vehicles with "seamless real time updates" worldwide.

It said Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford began copying its software after growing weary of paying millions of dollars in annual licensing fees, and in 2014 rejected a "final" offer to license Versata's major software for US$17 million a year.

More than US$82.2 million of the jury award was for breach of contract, with the remaining US$22.4 million for trade secret misappropriation. Versata's damages expert testified that the company suffered US$59.9 million in trade secret damages.

"While we respect the jury's decision, we believe the facts and the law do not support this outcome," Ford said in a statement on Wednesday. "Ford will appeal the verdict."

Lawyers for Versata did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The litigation began in April 2015, when Ford sought a court order that it did not infringe Versata's intellectual property.

The case is Versata Software Inc et al v Ford Motor Co, US District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, No 15-10628.