Microsoft and TomTom Settle Patent Lawsuit, As Expected

Microsoft Corporation and GPS device company TomTom have settled the patent lawsuits that they have filed against each other.  Microsoft sued TomTom in late February and TomTom sued them back earlier this month.  Both companies were expected to just settle with each other rather than spend too much money on litigation battling each other.

As part of the agreement, TomTom will pay Microsoft for patent protection where related to mapping patents and file management patents.  Microsoft claimed that TomTom was infringing on the software giant’s use of the Linux kernel.  Microsoft will also receive access to TomTom’s patents that were referred to in the lawsuit against them.  Microsoft won’t make any payments to TomTom for using their patents.

This settlement has a five year term and TomTom will remove functionality related to Microsoft’s two file management system patents from their products over the next couple of years.  “We are pleased TomTom has chosen to resolve the litigation amicably by entering into a patent agreement,” stated Microsoft’s deputy general counsel Horacio Gutierrez.

[via CNET]

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