In a lawsuit filed today, Microsoft claims that TomTom violated eight patents in its GPS navigation devices.
Among these patents are "Vehicle Computer System with Open Platform Architecture," "Method and System for Generating Driving Directions" and "Vehicle Computer System with Wireless Internet Connectivity." Other patents pertain to file naming and management, PC integration and graphic interfaces.
Microsoft first notified TomTom of a possible lawsuit in June of last year. Since then, the companies have failed to reach an agreement. Other companies -- more than 500, TechFlash reports -- license patents from Microsoft, and the software giant hopes TomTom will do the same.
"TomTom is a highly respected and important company," Microsoft said in a statement. "We remain open to quickly resolving this situation with them through an IP licensing agreement.”
As TechFlash and other sites note, this is the first time Microsoft has filed a patent infringement lawsuit over implementation of Linux. Of the eight claims, three of them pertain to the Linux kernel as used by TomTom. Previously, Microsoft has said Linux violates 235 patents. Naturally, the open-source community is worried.
In a follow-up interview, Horacio Gutierrez, Microsoft's deputy general counsel for intellectual property said that the company "respects and appreciates the important role that open-source software plays in our industry, and we respect and appreciate the passion and the great contribution that open-source developers make in our industry." In a nice jab that follows, he added, "That appreciation and respect is not inconsistent with our respect for intellectual-property rights."
