Exro Technologies Inc., a leading clean technology company that has developed a new class of power electronics for electric motors and batteries, is issuing this statement in response to the lawsuit filed by ePropelled against the Company on January 21, 2022.
Exro has filed a petition with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for inter partes review (“IPR”) of U.S. Patent No. 7,382,103 (“the ‘103 patent”), assigned to patent owner ePropelled, Inc. An inter partes review is used to challenge the patentability of claims in a U.S. patent on the basis of prior art, which is evidence that an invention was already known prior to filing for patent protection. The filing follows an in-depth analysis by an independent expert in motors, and concludes that ePropelled’s ‘103 patent, which Exro is alleged to have infringed is itself invalid.
The independent analysis was conducted by a professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) who is an expert in the field of power electronics. The expert holds Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, Master of Science in Electrical Engineering, and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from MIT, where he has taught since 1993. His work has been published extensively in scholarly journals. The expert has also received numerous awards and accolades for his research and teaching and is the holder of more than 20 patents for energy conversion controls and power systems. The results of this independent review are included in Exro’s filed IPR IPR2022-01154.
Based on the results of the independent review, Exro asserts that, unlike the patents held by Exro, there are numerous prior art references that demonstrate ePropelled’s ‘103 patent is invalid. The cancellation of the ‘103 patent would render ePropelled’s infringement claims moot. As such, the Company anticipates that following the completion of the IPR, the ‘103 patent assigned to ePropelled, Inc. will be cancelled, leading to an immediate resolution of ePropelled’s claim and a full vindication of Exro.