Microsoft Suing TomTom Over In-Car Navigation Patent Violation

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has decided to file a lawsuit against TomTom today regarding the violation of in-car navigation services.  Microsoft believes that TomTom is violating 8 of their patents.  Three of these violations relate to the way that TomTom implemented the Linux kernel.  Using Linux isn’t the main point of the lawsuit, but it is more of the violation of using proprietary software.  Microsoft said that they filed the lawsuit out of last resort.

The case was filed in the U.S. District Court in Seattle and the International Trade Commission.  Horacio Gutierrez, Microsoft’s corporate VP and deputy general counsel stated that this is the first time Microsoft has had this kind of lawsuit.  Both of the previous lawsuits were settled after they were filed.  Microsoft has had about 500 patent licensing deals made in the past 5 years.

“In exceptional cases such as this one, when a pragmatic business agreement cannot be reached, we feel that we really have no choice but to pursue legal action to protect our innovations and our partners who license them,” stated Gutierrez.  Microsoft has struck licensing deals with other in-car navigation services.  The company “remains open” to resolving the TomTom lawsuit quickly.

[via TechFlash]

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