patent

TransCore have their eye on the huge E-ZPass Inter Agency Group (IAG) recompete - or its collapse - with bold announcements today that they have added a straight existing-IAG standard transponder to their current product line, plus added 5.9GHz add-on capability to the Encompass 6, their main reader offering.

Mark IV, manufacturers of E-ZPass transponders and readers for the E-ZPass Inter Agency Group (IAG) members claim that rivals TransCore are violating several of their patents on the Greenville Southern Connector.

A US appeals court has ruled against TransCore in a patent infringement challenge to Electronic Transaction Consultants Corp (ETC) work at the Illinois Tollway in a ruling handed down this week.

PlatePass, one of the larger rental car toll consolidators, announce they now have an interoperable system for camera-based toll collection across Texas, Florida and Colorado. Toll authorities in Florida, Texas and Colorado are now set up to recognize the license plates and other visual characteristics of four major car rental fleets.

A Supreme Court ruling this week in a patent case on mobile telephone chipsets - Quanta vs LG Electronics - deals with many of the same issues raised by TransCore in their litigation against ETC, and touches indirectly on the value of IBM's patent claim to variable pricing tolls.

TransCore plan to lodge an appeal against the May 22 US District Court's dismissal of their complaint against ETC on patent infringement in Illinois. An official said: "I don't think you'll find this is the end of the story."

US District Court in Dallas has dismissed with prejudice a lawsuit by TransCore against ETC alleging infringement of open road tolling patents in the E-ZPass area. TransCore alleged in their suit that ETC improperly used methodologies they owned through patents for open road tolling with the IAG's Mark IV transponders and readers.

IBM is working to get agreement internally on a formal statement on a controversial "Variable rate toll system" patent that the company gained from the US Patent Office January 22. An official says that getting the patent was not part of any corporate strategy to "corner the market" on road pricing as others are alleging.