I won't pretend to be an expert on patent law, but the general point is to reward innovation by granting exclusive use for a limited time. You spent a lot of time/money/smarts building something, you get the rights to it for a while. It keeps innovation alive.

And it also gives people a chance to game the system and make millions.

This is a story about both.

See, who we have here is Alex Severinksy. Russian born and educated, Severinsky holds a patent– Hyperdrive– from 1994 that details a way to get seamless performance from both powersources. And it's the same way that Toyota thought to do it with their hybrids.

Now, Toyota claims that the research that went into its hybrid drive system was done independently of Severinsky's patent, but a lengthy courtroom effort ended in the decision that Toyota (and Ford) would have to pay Paice– the company that deals only with Severinsky's patent claims– $98 per hybrid sold. Toyota has sold 2 million hybrids worldwide.

The argument against Severinsky is that Paice is a patent troll, buying patents from the holder and then litigating settlements.

AOL Autos has a lengthy statement of Severinsky, Paice and all of the trouble they've caused Ford, Toyota, GM, Honda and could potentially cause VW and Porsche. It's a good read if you're interested in the business side of the industry as well as the mechanical.

( AOL Autos Via Autoblog )