TomTom countersues Microsoft GPS maker TomTom hit back at Microsoft yesterday by issuing a countersuit against the software giant with a patent claim of its own. The move follows Redmond’s decision last month to sue the Dutch manufacturer for infringement of eight Microsoft patents. TomTom filed the countersuit in the US District Court for the Eastern …
Pretty much as expected, Tom Tom has a lot of patents in that area, Microsoft and its licensees are late into that market and hence would lose any patent war against them. I'd expect Tom Tom to pursue Microsoft licensees now also.
I think Microsoft seriously overestimated the impact their lawsuit would have on Tom Tom, I think it was opportunist, and timed to drive their shareprice down, but ultimately it just focussed attention on how undervalued Tom2 stock was, and hence failed to drive the price down and hence failed to force them to default on their loan covenants, .....
They were at 3.16 when the Microsoft lawsuit against them was announced, they're now 3.43, slightly up.
"and the world uses Apple"
Yes, that well known company that has never hidden behind the use of patented or copyrighted technology in order to protect its own interests. After all, you can readily buy third party hardware to run their system software, play iTunes files on other MP3 player, use the iPhone on any network, easily get third party parts to fix Macbooks. What you mean you can't...
Did MS not stop to think about the patents TomTom own, and the fact that it owns just about every digital mapping software company in the world?
GoogleMaps relies on TomTom mapping subsidiaries such as TelsAtlas for example.
Hmmn I just wonder did they bother to check their fudmachine before going in to this battle..
Hope they get their ass kicked.
Sort out this MS FUD about Linux for once and for all.
Plural is Mongosses. Although Merriam Webster's claims Mongeese is acceptable, but only because people don't know the etymology of the word Mongoose. There is also a school of though that claims Mongoose is both the singular and plural form, but that is a grammatical argument that I just don't have the time or energy to get into :-).
I suppose Tom Tom has shareholders (if not skip the text below)
It seems reasonable for shareholders to:
+ demand that senior managers exhaust all avenues before taking on what might be vexatious litigation
+ keep shareholders updated on a daily basis of how talks are progressing (one side of A4 summary (max) with links to original documents or correspondence, minutes, ... )
+ reasonably expect senior managers to avoid costly actions now that most organisations have been throttled badly by *anking sector follies
Long before TomTom, way back in 1988 in fact, there was a British software company called NextBase that pretty much created the European route planning and mapping software market with 'Autoroute' and was #1 in the USA with 'Automap'. Microsoft bought them in 1994.
NextBase was a great example of British innovation. It was also one of the more successful acquisitions by Microsoft given that the technology they acquired is still shipping today!!
Way for Greedy company to STEAL money from one and another.
The seriously flawed US patents laws are completly borken.
How about the US goverment sueing microsoft (and will at it the MPAA/RIAA) for abusing the US justice system?
Patents DOES NOTHING to help innovation and progress.
I most sincerely hope not. Apple have been dreaming about being a globe-spanning, high-margin monopoly for a long, long time. Quite frankly, if MS suddenly vanished today, you'd be more likely to see commercial linux distributions step in. People like their cheap, commodity hardware, after all; we can't all afford to have overpriced status symbols even if we'd like one.
Oh, and @Havin_it:
The plural of mongoose is clearly polygoose.
Seems you're quite out of date with some of your info...
iTunes is now DRM-free and the files can be played on any AAC (not an Apple format - also used by Nokia, Sony Ericsson and thousands of digital music players) device.
You can use the iPhone on any mobile network where there are no operator exclusive deals (and those deals are not limited to the iPhone), or just get it unlocked like thousands of people do with other operator locked phones. This is not an iPhone issue, it's a mobile industry issue.
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