Microsoft has filed a patent infringement case against satellite
navigation gadget maker
TomTom.
Microsoft said the legal action was taken after a year of
negotiations with loss-making TomTom didn't result in a licensing
agreement.
Horacio Gutierrez, Microsoft corporate vice president and deputy
general counsel of intellectual property and licensing, said the
firm had filed an action in the US District Court for the Western
District of Washington and in the International Trade Commission
(ITC) against TomTom NV and TomTom Inc.
TomTom is said to have infringed Microsoft patents in "car
naigation technology and other computing functionality".
Gutierrez said, "We have an established intellectual property
licensing program, and the patents involved in this case have been
licensed by many others.
"In situations such as this, when a reasonable business
agreement cannot be reached, we have no choice but to pursue legal
action to protect our innovations and our partners who license
them."
TomTom has just posted a fourth quarter loss, despite being one
of the main players in the growing satellite navigation market.
TomTom has not commented on the Microsoft action.