TomTom, Garmin both claim victory in US lawsuit

It looks like one round in the ongoing tussle between TomTom and Garmin has kind of, sort of drawn to a close, with a judge issuing a verdict in one of the two lawsuits filed over the past year in the US -- although that hasn't stopped both sides from claiming some form of victory. In this suit, US District Judge Barbara B. Crabb reportedly found that all five Garmin patents alleged to have been violated by TomTom are either invalid or were not in fact infinged upon by TomTom. That would seem to put an end to things (in this case, at least), but Garmin's still sticking to its guns, claiming that it has won a "complete victory on TomTom patents" and is apparently planning further litigation against the Dutch company. For the time being, however, it looks like the lawsuit filed in Texas will be the main attraction this side of the Atlantic, although those across the pond still have a ringside seat of their own, with the TomTom/Garmin battle in The Hague still unresolved.

[Neebs @ Dec 28th 2006 2:27PM]

Maybe it was SueSue in the commercial, and the navigator was actually a Garmin.

[TS @ Dec 28th 2006 2:38PM]

Quotes from article:
"US District Judge Barbara B. Crabb reportedly found that all five Garmin patents alleged to have been violated by TomTom are either invalid or were not in fact infinged upon by TomTom"
"Garmin's still sticking to its guns, claiming that it has won a 'complete victory on TomTom patents'"

This reminds me of Zoolander, when Derrick gets up to accept the 'Male Model of the Year' award without even realizing he lost. Perhaps the good folks at Garmin all talk on very small cell phones and lack the ability to turn left? :)

[Blake @ Dec 28th 2006 5:58PM]

In my opionion Garmin GPS are superior to Tom Tom, so what type of patent would Garmin copy from Tom Tom. Garmin units are winning the GPS poll.

See for yourself: http://todayspolls.googlepages.com/home6

[JasonCompUSA @ Dec 28th 2006 8:39PM]

The story from engadget's link at (today's) UK's the theregister.co.uk is a total rip-off from the one in (five days ago) US' americasnewstoday.com (TomTom Wins US Lawsuit Brought by Garmin Or So It Says... at: http://blog.americasnewstoday.com/2006/12/24/tomtom-wins-us-lawsuit-brought-by-garmin-or-so-it-says.aspx )

[John Gegier @ Jan 2nd 2007 11:15AM]

Until one of these GPS companies starts droppign the prics of their updated maps they will all lose. People will buy one TomTom or Garmin unit, then realize 6 months later that their maps are sadly outdated and then that the new supposedly updated maps are 75 bucks and barely updated. Microsoft and Google have the right idea with the maps being updated daily for construction and the like, but the Microsoft mapping program sucks for giving viable routes, and Google has it's own issues. Anyway, the hardware for Garmin and TomTom are very nice, just not very customizable, and definitly way to expensive on the maintenace updates. If one of these companies don't figure out it's the ease of use and updateablility that will get them the customers, before the intgernet catches up and it's cheap to have wi-fi in your car, then you will see these GPS units become bricks. I have a Garmin right now I use but only on my motorcycle becasue I can't use a laptop with a GPS receiver attached to my bike. In the truck however, the maps I pull down on my laptop prior to heading out on a trip are much more accurate, and on a 15" screen to boot. It costs almost the same to get started this way as a Garmin or TomTom as well, If you have a laptop, the GPS receiver costs less than 100 bucks and a Ram mount for a laptop is under 100 as well. Anyway, it wont fit in your pocket like one of these others, but the UMPC is coming as well. So I imagine we can say so long ot Garmin unless your an avid biker or hiker.

just my 2 cents as I was very disappointed in needed to pay Garmin for maps the one time each year I really want updated maps, when driving cross country for vacation.

[Andy @ Jan 24th 2007 7:37PM]

Did someone hack into Garmin's website? www.garmin.com