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Hyundai Kia asked to pay $28.9M in patent infringement case

After years of litigation, Hyundai and Kia have lost their hybrid technology patent infringement case against Paice LLC. The jury ordered the South Korean automakers to pay $28.9 million, but according to Bloomberg, because the violation was allegedly intentional, the judge could triple that amount. The automakers have announced plans to appeal the ruling. Paice's patent dates from 1994 on a piece of tech called the Hyperdrive, and it was a way to seamlessly switch between power from an electric motor and an internal combustion engine. This lawsuit was first filed in 2012 and covered the systems in the Hyundai Sonata Hybrid and Kia Optima Hybrid. According to Bloomberg, the companies tried to argue that the patent was no longer valid, but the strategy failed. "Hyundai strongly believes its position and will appeal any remaining adverse findings to the Federal Circuit," the company said in a statement to Autoblog. Paice is certainly no stranger to litigating over the Hyperdrive patent, though. It and Toyota had a similar court battle that lasted years. Eventually, there was a settlement, and the result was Paice getting royalties for each hybrid that the Japanese automaker sold. Similarly, there's a lawsuit pending against Ford over tech in the C-Max, Fusion, and Lincoln MKZ. Hyundai Statement: Hyundai believes that the verdict returned by the jury today in the matter of Paice v. Hyundai Motor Company et al., is not supported by the evidence. Accordingly, Hyundai has requested that the presiding judge enter a judgment in its favor notwithstanding the verdict. Hyundai strongly believes its position and will appeal any remaining adverse findings to the Federal Circuit.

Kia Sorento bares its claws for X-Men special edition

We all know what Batman drives. Chrysler even postulated at what Superman would drive with its special Ram Power Wagon. But what would the X-Men drive? According to Kia, the Sorento you see here. Unveiled to promote the release of X-Men: Days of Future Past on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD, this special Sorento has been done up in a unique livery inspired by one of Marvel's superheroes. Just which one, Kia's not saying, inviting fans to vote on its Facebook page – but unless those claws on the front are magnetized, we're pretty sure you can guess. The special Kia Sorento will be displayed at the Australian Open, which Kia is also sponsoring, and will be followed by a video of tennis star Rafael Nadal teaming up with the team of mutants and jumping in the Sorento to take on a patrol of Sentinels. This isn't the first time, of course, that we've seen Kia take inspiration from comic-book superheroes, but its previous collaborations – highlighted by a quintet of show cars unveiled at SEMA two years ago – were with rival DC's Justice League. 'X-Men' inspired Kia Sorento to debut at the Australian Open 2015 - Striking 'Kia X-Car' produced in collaboration with Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment - Fans to guess the X-Men character behind Kia's latest model on the Kia Facebook page - Grand Slam Champion and 'Superhuman' Kia brand ambassador Rafael Nadal to unveil the 'Kia X-Car' at Australian Open 2015 Seoul: Kia Motors today announced details of a new collaboration with Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment to promote X-Men: Days of Future Past on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD and Kia's sponsorship of the Australian Open 2015. The partnership with Fox will see the unveiling of a special X-Men-inspired all-new Kia Sorento one week before the first major tennis championship of 2015 - with Kia's 'superhuman' brand ambassador, tennis star Rafael Nadal, revealing the car. In the run-up to the unveiling of the one-off model, Kia Motors is inviting fans of the X-Men franchise and the Korean car manufacturer to guess which X-Men character has inspired the car's unique design. Visitors who go to the Kia Motors Facebook page at http://bit.ly/KiaXmen can guess from four iconic X-Men characters: Storm, Wolverine, Mystique and Magneto. Fans guessing correctly will be entered into a prize draw to win a DVD copy of X-Men: Days of Future Past.

How automakers stand to benefit from Iran

The big global news of late is a deal that sees a number of major powers easing some sanctions on Iran in return for the Middle Eastern nation scaling back its nuclear program. This thawing of relations between Iran and the West could have far-reaching impacts in both the near and long term, particularly on the auto industry.
As Bloomberg points out, foreign manufacturers, especially Kia and Peugeot, stand to win big by this short-term easing of sanctions. But the impact of opening up the Iranian market to larger-scale sales cannot be underestimated - Peugeot, for example, sold 457,900 units to Iran in 2011 as spare parts kits alone. Opening the Iranian market could also have a huge impact on the cost of oil, as the country was one of the largest producers in the OPEC consortium before firmer sanctions took effect in 2012. Still, as David Cohen, US undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence said, it's "not open season now for business in Iran."
Bloomberg has an excellent report of all the near-term effects an easing of sanctions has across a number of industries. Hop over and give it a look.