General Electric Co. has won its unusual legal battle with Thomas Wilkins, a former GE employee who claimed the company didn’t credit him for coinventing a key wind turbine patent. Wilkins’ loss is also a defeat for GE’s main competitor in the wind energy industry, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which joined forces with Wilkins in hopes of invalidating the GE patent.
In a 16-page decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled Thursday that Wilkins and Mitsubishi failed to prove that he coinvented GE’s patent. On the basis of that determination, the appeals court affirmed the dismissal of a “correction of ownership” claim Wilkins brought in 2010. Mitsubishi had financially backed Wilkins, clearly hoping he could help the company dodge claims that it infringed the patent.
