A federal appeals court has restored most of a massive judgment against Ford Motor Company in a software licensing dispute, bringing back $82.2 million of an original $104.6 million award won by Versata Software.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Friday reinstated damages that a Detroit jury had granted to Versata in 2022 for Ford’s contract violations, while ordering a new trial to establish appropriate compensation for the theft of trade secrets.
The original jury verdict had been thrown out in 2023 by U.S. District Judge Matthew Leitman.
Neither Ford nor Versata representatives immediately provided statements when contacted for comment.
According to court documents, Austin, Texas-based Versata provided automotive software licensing to Ford between 1998 and 2015, enabling the company’s engineers and marketing teams to work together on vehicle design with “seamless real time updates” across the globe. Versata alleged that Ford, headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, started duplicating its software technology to avoid paying millions in yearly licensing costs.
The original jury had granted Versata $82.2 million for the contract breach and an additional $22.4 million for trade secret misappropriation. Judge Leitman had reversed the decision, ruling that Versata failed to provide sufficient evidence for jurors to properly determine damages.
However, the Federal Circuit determined Friday that the jury had established the contract breach damages with “reasonable certainty.”
