Global Locate Countersues SiRF - Baseless Claims

So you thought a Garmin v. TomTom suit was nasty; well check out this little rumble between rival GPS chip makers SiRF ad Global Locate.

The short story is this:
1. Word gets out that Global Locate gets big TomTom Deal - ousting SiRF
2. SiRF stock drops 10% - Dec 14th
3. SiRF Sues Global Locate - Dec 18th
4. Global Locate Sues SiRF - Jan 8th
5. Global Locate says #3 above is "Sham" suit - Today
~~6. Lawyers get big payday~~

(Whoops - #6 might not have happened yet.)

So it appears that Global Locate now believes that the December suit by SiRF was hastily prepared and launched more as a PR campaign to buoy their stock than a well thought out patent infringement suit. Good luck on this one; I am sure there will be more news on this later...

More news below....

Global Locate Sues SiRF for Engaging in Sham Litigation in Violation of U.S. Anti-Trust Laws

Privately held Global Locate announced that it is filing today an Amended Answer and Counterclaims against SiRF Technology, Inc (Nasdaq:SIRF) in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California asserting that SiRF has violated federal antitrust laws and state unfair competition laws by initiating ''sham'' litigation against Global Locate that SiRF knew to be meritless.

As described in Global Locate's Amended Counter claims, SiRF initiated patent-infringement litigation against Global Locate on December 15, 2006, after SiRF's stock price dropped precipitously on news that TomTom, a major SiRF customer, had awarded a significant contract to Global Locate. The Amended Counterclaims allege that SiRF filed objectively meritless claims against Global Locate for infringement of multiple patents immediately after the news was announced and without engaging in a good faith investigation or analysis of potential infringement, in order to maintain a monopoly in and to attempt to monopolize relevant markets, in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act and California's Unfair Competition Law.

In a previous filing on January 8, 2007, Global Locate asserted counterclaims against SiRF for infringement of four of Global Locate's patents. Global Locate's Patent No.s 6,542,820 and 6,560,534 cover proprietary, Long Term Orbit (LTO(tm)) technology invented by Global Locate. LTO extends for several days the usability period of ephemeris assistance data, thereby minimizing the start-up time and enhancing the sensitivity of mobile devices. Global Locate Patent No. 6,704,651 covers certain proprietary processing algorithms that utilize ephemeris data to improve sensitivity in a GPS receiver. Global Locate Patent No. 6,606,346 covers proprietary techniques for achieving massive parallel correlation, such as used in Global Locate GPS products, including Hammerhead(tm), the world's first single-die GPS receiver IC. Global Locate alleges that each of these patents has been, and is being, infringed by SiRF.

A copy of Global Locate's amended Answer and Counterclaims will be available at: www.globallocate.com/counterclaim.pdf

Global Locate, Inc. is a privately held company that produces Assisted-GPS chips and software for wireless devices and networks. Global Locate has more than 160 US & Foreign patents issued or pending, related to Assisted-GPS technology. Headquartered in San Jose, California, the company has offices in New York, Tokyo, Taipei and Madrid. For more information see www.globallocate.com

Global Locate is a registered trademark, and Hammerhead and LTO are trademarks of Global Locate, Inc.

January 30, 2007

Global Locate Countersues SiRF - Baseless Claims