MAY 4, 2012

Costly hit for Force India in Aerolab case

Force India has been hit with costs of £650,000 payable to Caterham and chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne over a case sparked by an intellectual property dispute.

Force India has been hit with costs of £650,000 payable to Caterham and chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne over a case sparked by an intellectual property dispute.

The verdict comes on top of £700,000 costs already awarded against Force India in favour of Italian design consultancy Aerolab a few weeks ago.

The issue went legal when Aerolab claimed that fees due to them by Force India had not been paid, while the team counter-claimed that there had been copyright infringement by Caterham (formerly Team Lotus) and Aerolab during the production of the car that Tony Fernandes' team debuted in 2010.

Force India initially won a £20,900 verdict when the judge ruled that intellectual property had been used to "shortcut" the Lotus design process, while at the same time setting aside a claim of systematic copying.

In today's verdict, the judge awarded costs on 'a full indemnity basis' to Gascoye and Caterham dating back to last November, when lawyers for Gascoyne had offered a settlement.