Redmond (WA) - Microsoft has filed a lawsuit in US district court, as well as with the International Trade Commission, against the Netherlands-based TomTom company, manufacturer of a wide array of GPS devices. After more than a year of attempted negotiations, Microsoft claims TomTom is infringing on some of its software patents.


The patents involved relate to the vehicle navigation technology and computer software that Microsoft licensed to other firms, according to Horacio Gutierrez, deputy counsel of intellectual property and licensing at Microsoft. TomTom's US office refused to comment on the allegations and told AFP that the company does not discuss legal matters.

According to Gutierrez, "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." For an alternate view on this corporate, greed-based philosphy, consider this.

See the original AFP article republished on Yahoo Tech.