Lord Corp. says it has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Manchester, N.H.-based Active Shock Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. Active Shock was acquired by Ontario’s General Kinetics Engineering Corp. last month.
The lawsuit, which was filed late last year, also accuses Active Shock of false advertising and unfair and deceptive trade practices relating to vibration control and suspension end stop damping. The complaint relates to three U.S. patents Lord holds regarding its magnetorheological (MR) fluid and adaptive suspension technology.
Introduced in the 2002 Chevrolet Corvette as part of Delphi’s MagneRide suspension system, the technology now is used in more than a dozen models produced by Audi, Acura, Ferrari, General Motors and Honda. China’s Beijing West Industries Group (BWI) bought Delphi’s Ride Dynamics and Brake units that supply the system last year.
When exposed to a magnetic field, MR materials (coated iron particles floating in synthetic hydrocarbon-based oil) quickly change state, thus slowing or stopping liquids from flowing through the dampers. Varying the intensity of the magnetic current determines the degree of the damping. The technology also can be applied to other automotive and industrial systems.
Lord says it has more than 110 MR fluid, device and controller algorithm patents worldwide. The privately held Cary, N.C., firm had sales of some $700 million last year.