TomTom hits back at Microsoft

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 20 Mar 2009 at 08:33

TomTom has counter sued Microsoft for patent violation, as the navigation specialist refuses to back down over its Linux implementation.

TomTom's suit alleges that Microsoft Streets and Trips application infringes four of its patents.

Streets and Trips is mapping software that can be used in conjunction with a GPS receiver that connects to a laptop.

The navigation specialist is claiming Microsoft "willfully infringed" its patent, claiming it notified the company about the infringement before drawing up the suit. TomTom is asking for triple damages.

However, Microsoft claims the suit will not avert its own legal proceedings: "As has been the case for more than a year, we remain committed to a licensing solution, although we will continue to press ahead with the complaints we initiated in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington and the International Trade Commission," says Horacio Gutierrez, deputy general counsel of Intellectual Property and Licensing at Microsoft.

Microsoft filed suit in February claiming that TomTom's implementation of certain aspects of the Linux kernel violated its patents.

The suit made the Linux community prick up its ears, because Microsoft has long claimed that Linux violates its patents. The company has since claimed this is a one-shot action aimed at getting TomTom to sign a licensing deal, but it looks as if the company is refusing to back down.