TomTom sues Garmin, but surprisingly not for patent infringement

As you probably already know, there's nothing we love more around here than some intense courtroom drama (our Series3 is already at capacity thanks to 24/7 Law & Order), so we were excited to learn that the age-old grudge match between GPS kings Garmin and TomTom is about to enter a thrilling new chapter. To quickly recap the events so far: American manufacturer Garmin sued its Dutch rival over patent infringement in February of this year (something about technologies designed to calculate which streets are important enough to a driver's route to be displayed), after which TomTom countersued with infringement claims of its own. Garmin then fired back at TomTom in August with yet another patent claim, but instead of continuing this amusing game of tit-for-tat, TomTom decided to go after its rival in familiar territory, filing a suit in The Hague that accuses Garmin of copying the look and feel of its devices. As The Register notes, Garmin and TomTom split the US market 50.8% / 26.9% and the European market 16.7% / 30%, respectively, so the stakes in this battle are pretty high, with each company fiercely trying to one-up the other on its home turf. Since all of these legal proceedings will probably take years to get sorted out, your best bet is to just sit back, enjoy the show, and don't let either combatant lure you off a cliff or into a big pile of sand.

[AyAn4m1 @ Oct 16th 2006 7:05PM]

Well, seeing as The Hague has a multiple year backlog, good luck to them actually getting it brought to a judge.

[Simon @ Oct 16th 2006 9:16PM]

It's "Den Haag". Just like that international court your beloved goverment nerver accomplished to recognise.

Anyway, not going "tit-for-tat" as you US folks always seem to do, this is actualy going to hurt. (you, the US)

Fare well ... This is just the start of the beginning, as I hope ...

[HughJass @ Oct 16th 2006 9:42PM]

Simon, buddy, let's think this through for a minute. We're talking about GPS companies here. It's not the end of the world. Even if you're right and it ends up hurting Garmin... who cares? By the way, your English is horrible.

[Scott @ Oct 16th 2006 9:48PM]

Whatever happened to making better products to try and beat your rival? It seems like these guys are trying to sue each other in order to gain market dominance.

[AyAn4m1 @ Oct 16th 2006 11:56PM]

Scott, I think that part of the problem is that this is viewed by a corporation as a totally legitimate move, just as normal as developing a new product or starting an ad campaign. Though, it's not really that huge a deal because they're handling the case outside of US courts, where lawsuits like these get really ugly. Simon, I have to say, most people I know who live outside the US are a lot more open-minded (read: eloquent) than you. I'm sorry that I used a name translated into the primary language of this blog. Should I have used the formal spelling ('s-Gravenhage) instead? I have been to The Hague/Den Haag/'s-Gravenhage, and not one person there bitched at me for calling it by it's English name. For the record, I don't love the US government, and I'm a dual citizen. Just because someone writes in moderately fluent English doesn't mean they're a crazy American who doesn't care to know what his government hasn't "accomplished to recognise."

[Simon @ Oct 17th 2006 12:14AM]

Oh, that hurt. My english horrible ... who cares ... most US citizens can't speak propper english ... let's not talk about writing ...

[Simon @ Oct 17th 2006 12:17AM]

Yeah, maybe a bit over due ... it's just some corporate nitpicking ... have to agree with that ...

[David B. Lection @ Oct 17th 2006 6:12AM]

This doesn't suprise me ... TomTom is a shady company .. I bought one of their Tom Tom Go products .. broke 6 months out of warranty .. Their solution, instead of repairing the device, the best they could do is offer me a refurb'd different model for as much money as the original cost new. Their customer service is HORRIBLE, they do not care about "after the sale"

Garmin is completely oppposite ..

[John Haverty @ Oct 17th 2006 8:28AM]

Can't say I agree with you David B. I bought the GO910 last June and got nothing but great service when the mount began to prematurely droop. Once that was replaced (for free) it worked perfectly.

[kriz @ Oct 17th 2006 1:41PM]

I hope Garmin wins, if for no other reason that it would get those annoying as hell TomTom commercials off the air.

Simon, you really should get some help for that hatred you seem to have for all things American. I mean seriously, do you think that all 300 Million of us are exactly alike or something? Get a clue.

[Jack @ Oct 23rd 2006 1:18PM]

As Garmin was the first to present a mobile carnavigation device, I think that TomTom needs to thank Garmin rather than sue them. It`s like Pepsi sueing Coca Cola for also making cola, it makes no sense. And for those who are more familiar with this case, the arguments TT uses are nonsense. Before TT presented their Go-series, Garmin already had different models out there. Products are developed in looks and capability...remember the first mobile phones? Did you think TT developed their Go-series out of the blue? Guess what products their developers used for "inspiration"?... In this market producers look at eachother and try to make something better, if you can't handle that than you shouldn`t be in this business. But don`t sue the one (especially over something like this) you have your place in this business to thank to...it`s not something that a self respecting company should do.

By the way, I`m from Holland too and not every dutch person thinks like mr Simon...just want to make that clear... Don`t want to be associated with that narrow minded way of thinking.

[LikesGadgetsWillTravel @ Jan 6th 2007 8:52PM]

Pepsi is older than Coke.