Lockheed Martin Corp., the world's largest defense company, is battling Raytheon Co., the largest missile maker, for the right to use the Paveway name for laser-guided bomb kits made by both companies.
Lockheed is challenging Raytheon's efforts to register a trademark for Paveway in the U.S. and abroad because it's a generic word used to describe laser technology in guided bombs, John Pericci, Lockheed's director of business development said.
Lockheed has won cases in Turkey and Oman so far this year, he said. Testimony in the U.S. case will begin in November.
The Paveway weapon system consists of nose- and tail-mounted guidance kits fitted on otherwise unguided 500- to 2,000-pound bombs. The Paveway was the most widely used precision munition during the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, during which more than 8,700 of the bombs were dropped, according to Raytheon.
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The company makes Paveway bomb kits at Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems, Southern Arizona's biggest employer with more than 11,000 workers.
Raytheon, which filed to register the Paveway trademark in the U.S. in July 2005, said in that application it had used the term at least since 1972. Lockheed has made the weapons since 1992, and has $1 billion in Paveway orders since then, Pericci said.
"Beginning a couple years ago, Raytheon began an aggressive effort to trademark the name Paveway not only here in the U.S., but internationally as well," Pericci said. "As the first two rulings demonstrate, we are now beginning to see the international courts agree with Lockheed Martin."
Raytheon spokesman Mac Jeffery said the company owns the Paveway trademark "in several countries." The decision by the Turkish Patent Institute was "preliminary" and Raytheon has already objected to it, he said.
In Oman, Raytheon's application wasn't approved and the company has refiled it. That application is still pending, he said.
Lockheed is concerned that the inability to use the Paveway name could harm the sale of its weapon, especially with international customers, Pericci said. He declined to provide international sales figures for Paveway.
Lockheed Martin makes laser-guided and dual-mode versions of the Paveway II in Archbald, Pa.
"That product may be looked upon differently than the Paveway product," Pericci said. "We believe it would adversely affect things. The product is referred to as a Paveway laser- guided bomb."
Shares of Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed rose 14 cents to close Wednesday at $94.36 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Waltham, Mass.-based Raytheon rose 6 cents to $54.38.
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Developed in the late 1960s, Paveway laser-guided bombs were first used in the Vietnam War. Raytheon Missile Systems has delivered more than 275,000 Paveway II bomb kits to the U.S. and more than 35 allied nations, Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems said. Raytheon's newer Enchanced Paveway II and Enhanced Paveway III kits feature dual-mode laser and satellite guidance and other upgrades.