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January 17, 2001 10:36 AM, EST

Legal disputes over the electronic technology that is supposed to activate a critical antilock braking system warning light have come to a head and now threaten to stop production of truck tractors and trailers.

Vehicle production could conceivably stop by March 1, the federally imposed deadline to employ the in-cab light that would warn of a malfunction of a trailer’s antilock braking system, industry sources say. Production of some ABS parts may have already stopped and hard feelings are developing toward the technology’s inventor.

Inventor Alan Lesesky, through his company, Vehicle Enhancement Systems of Rock Hill, S.C., received a long-sought patent for his use of power-line carrier, or PLC, technology on Oct. 3. Lesesky said he had repeatedly warned potential users in writing that he was seeking patents here and in other countries, and they should not have been surprised when he began asking them to pay royalties.

But users have balked at even the minimum licensing fee suggested by Lesesky’s patent attorney — about $5 per vehicle — and have reportedly offered well under a dollar. Manufacturers and some fleet executives are shocked because they had assumed that there would be no licensing issues with PLC.

For the full story, see the Jan. 15 print edition of Transport Topics. .