Tesla Accused of Infringing Automatic Gear-Shifting Car Patent

Patent owner Bulletproof Property Management LLC sued Tesla Inc., accusing the car company of willfully infringing patents related to an automatic vehicle gear-shifting system.

Bulletproof, which is owned by inventor Bennet Langlotz, filed the complaint Monday in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas accusing Tesla of infringing US Patent Nos. 11,932,230, 12,221,104, 12,227,184, 12,233,871, 12,240,456, 12,240,457, and 12,240,458. The patents at issue relate to an innovative vehicle gear selection control system that can automatically shift a vehicle’s transmission based on steering inputs without requiring the driver to manually change ...