Ford has lost a US court case and been ordered to pay multi-million dollar compensation for software it used and allegedly copied for “over the air updates”.
A federal jury in Detroit ordered Ford to pay Versata Software Inc $104.6 million (£90 million) in damages for breaching a 2004 licensing contract and misappropriating trade secrets.
Jurors deliberated over two days before finding against Ford after a 15-day hearing.
Versata, of Austin, Texas, said it licensed its 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 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 $17 million a year.
The car maker said it will appeal the jury’s decision.
