TomTom wins Round II versus Garmin; Well Not Really
Update: It appears that we didn't have the Garmin side of thing when we wrote this.....
Originally, it appeared that TomTom won round II in the Garmin vs. TomTom patent dispute, but it appears that this may be a draw. Garmin won round I over in Europe. But, like any fight, there are three rounds to this story, as there is another patent dispute coming up in a couple of months in Texas. So if you read Garmin's press release, they indicate that the judge did not support the charges that TomTom brought alleging that Garmin infringed on 3 patents that they licensed in the US. The judgement also does not support the charges that TomTom is infringing on Garmin patents.
The most recent suit was dismissed in a summary judgement, "The decision finds that all five Garmin patents asserted against TomTom in the lawsuit are either invalid or not infringed by TomTom's popular line of navigation products," said the judgement.
In a bit of an odd statement coming on the heels of their own wasteful court battle in Europe, TomTom Chief Executive officer Harold Goddijn said in a statement, "We are hopeful that Garmin will return to competing in the marketplace instead of wasting resources on litigation."
When you are talking billions of dollars in sales, and millions of dollars in profits, that's just how the game is played Harold, you know that.
Garmin's side: "We are pleased with Judge Crabb's rejection of TomTom's infringement claims against Garmin", said Andrew Etkind, Garmin's General Counsel. "Garmin will continue to take all necessary action against those who misappropriate the innovations developed by Garmin's engineers. While Garmin would prefer not to litigate, it will not stand idly by and allow others, like TomTom, to exploit Garmin's technology." I guess no comment on whether or not their patents are actually valid.... which is apparently up in the air. again, we'll see more in Round III.
Garmin's press release
Read More in: GPS News | Garmin GPS News | TomTom GPS News
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Posted by Scott Martin at December 23, 2006 12:14 PM
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