Updated: July 11, 2020 (March 16, 2009)

  Analyst Report

Patent Suit Alleges Linux Infringement

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TomTom, a global positioning system (GPS) manufacturer based in the Netherlands, is the target of a new patent-infringement action by Microsoft. The lawsuit is the first to name specific Microsoft patents that Linux allegedly infringes, but Microsoft’s chief IP lawyer, Horacio Gutierrez, said that this case is strictly about TomTom and that Microsoft is not changing its approach to IP in open source software. Nonetheless, the move indicates that Microsoft plans to enforce its IP as aggressively among open source redistributors as it does with proprietary software vendors.

TomTom Suit Continues Open Source Campaign

Despite publicly claiming that open source software contains Microsoft IP, Microsoft had never named any specific patents, trademarks, copyrights, or trade secrets that open source software allegedly includes. This changed in Feb. 2009, when Microsoft filed patent-infringement claims against TomTom, a Dutch manufacturer of GPS-based automotive navigation software, in the U.S. District Court for Western Washington, as well as with the International Trade Commission (ITC).

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