TomTom Fires Back in Microsoft Patent War
Navigation software maker TomTom is now beating its drums against Microsoft for patent rights and has aligned with the Open Invention Network.
Responding to Microsoft's allegation that TomTom violated eight of its patents (see also), the Dutch manufacturer of navigation software is now fighting back. March 16 TomTom filed a patent infringement countersuit in Virginia federal court and also joined the Open Invention Network (OIN) to get a thicker shield against Microsoft.
OIN, to which also Google, IBM, Red Hat, Sony and Novell subscribe among other firms, is committed to rapid software innovation and "a refined model of intellectual property management" that safeguards open source rights. It does this by acquiring software patents and awarding them to individuals with the condition that they not claim against Linux or any of its associated firms. OIN also cooperates with Linux Defenders and the Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC).
TomTom is now in a proper defensive position with its portfolio of patents and the legal support at its back. It claims that Microsoft violates four of its patents with its Streets and Trips product. Even though Microsoft general counsel Horacio Gutierrez emphasizes that the earlier MS lawsuit against TomTom is not against Linux in general, a successful outcome could negatively impact its Linux rivals.
Whether Microsoft's patents have any validity is something OIN will have to work out. The project is searching for prior art to determine if earlier patent algorithms had already existed before the patents were filed. The Microsoft-TomTom battle continues.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Blender App Makes it to the Big Screen
The animated film "Flow" won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature at the 97th Academy Awards held on March 2, 2025 and Blender was a part of it.
-
Linux Mint Retools the Cinnamon App Launcher
The developers of Linux Mint are working on an improved Cinnamon App Launcher with a better, more accessible UI.
-
New Linux Tool for Security Issues
Seal Security is launching a new solution to automate fixing Linux vulnerabilities.
-
Ubuntu 25.04 Coming Soon
Ubuntu 25.04 (Plucky Puffin) has been given an April release date with many notable updates.
-
Gnome Developers Consider Dropping RPM Support
In a move that might shock a lot of users, the Gnome development team has proposed the idea of going straight up Flatpak.
-
openSUSE Tumbleweed Ditches AppArmor for SELinux
If you're an openSUSE Tumbleweed user, you can expect a major change to the distribution.
-
Plasma 6.3 Now Available
Plasma desktop v6.3 has a couple of pretty nifty tricks up its sleeve.
-
LibreOffice 25.2 Has Arrived
If you've been hoping for a release that offers more UI customizations, you're in for a treat.
-
TuxCare Has a Big AlmaLinux 9 Announcement in Store
TuxCare announced it has successfully completed a Security Technical Implementation Guide for AlmaLinux OS 9.
-
First Release Candidate for Linux Kernel 6.14 Now Available
Linus Torvalds has officially released the first release candidate for kernel 6.14 and it includes over 500,000 lines of modified code, making for a small release.