Paice founder Alex Severinsky, who had claimed that Toyota infringed on his 1994 patent, was pleased with the result.

“Finally people understand the merits of what I invented and give it the proper value,” Severinsky said. “Toyota is the leading technology company and finally appreciates the value of the invention.”

Toyota had insisted that, while its technology was similar to Paice patent, its hyrib vehicles were the result of its own independent research. Evidently, both parties were in agreement.

“The parties agree that, although certain Toyota vehicles have been found to be equivalent to a Paice patent, Toyota invented, designed and developed the Prius and Toyota’s hybrid technology independent of any inventions of Dr. Severinsky and Paice as part of Toyota’s long history of innovation,” both companies said in separate statements.

With this issue out of the way, Toyota can now concentrate on its latest round of subpeonas. This time, a federal grand jury in New York is investigating whether or not Toyota notified the NHTSA in a timely fashion about faulty steering rods.

For Toyota, a bad year just keeps getting worse.

This patent fight originally began in 2004, when Paice LLC, a Florida-based hybrid technology company, sued Toyota for using its patented technology in second-generation Prius vehicles. The court ruled that Toyota had infringed on Paice’s patent and Toyota filed multiple appeals, losing each time. According to Forbes, Toyota has paid $5 million in damages and a small fraction of the court-ordered license fee of $98 a car while it challenges future royalties. In the latest case, Paice is claiming that Toyota’s third-generation hybrids are also infringing on its patents and that Toyota is not paying enough in royalties. Paice is ultimately hoping to get the International Trade Commission to ban Toyota hybrids altogether. Toyota has fought to get the case dismissed but to no avail.

According to one expert, who commented on the case last year, a ban is unlikely. But if it does happen, Toyota would be looking at production delays, the inability to sell hybrid vehicles in the United States and millions of dollars in lost revenue while it inevitably tries to work out a licensing agreement.

When taken with the ongoing recall fiasco, this patent infringement mess is further evidence of the difference a year can make in business. This time last year, Toyota was seen as the industry gold standard. But their ongoing troubles paint a picture of a car company that seems to have gotten caught up in believing its own press and lost sight of key details, like safety and technology, that helped make it great. A company that once was the model for quality is quickly becoming a textbook example of the dangers of complacency.

The Risk Management Monitor is proud to present its first episode of the RiskCast, a podcast featuring the latest talk, insight and analysis of risk management in the news. Presented by the editorial staff of the Monitor and Risk Management magazine, the RiskCast isn’t afraid to have fun while it covers the stories that matter to risk managers everywhere.

Join Bill Coffin, Morgan O’Rourke and Emily Holbrook as they discuss hybrid vehicles too quiet for their own good, what it takes to fight a pirate, the infamous Colorado balloon boy and much, much more. And don’t forget to subscribe to the RiskCast on iTunes (search RiskCast).

UPDATE: In discussing the current state of CNN, we mention its website’s appearance on the day after Michael Jackson died. Here is what it looked like with the 31 separate links to Jacko stories highlighted.