DesignInfringement
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TomTom loses latest round in Garmin dispute
So it looks like it won't be a Garmin-free European Christmas for TomTom after all: despite the Dutch manufacturer's claim that its American rival has been copying the design of its nav units, a judge in The Hague has ruled that there are in fact "clear differences" between the two companies' products. TomTom originally filed the suit two weeks ago in hopes of forcing Garmin's devices off of European shelves during the lucrative holiday spendfest; however, the angular design of StreetPilot units was judged to be dissimilar to the curvier Go products even at first glance. Although this latest round of legal shenanigans finds Garmin coming out on top, TomTom is still waiting for the results of another summary proceeding, and of course, there's always the small matter of those three patent infringement suits that have yet to be settled. Since both companies come out with very capable products, we can't say that we have a preference regarding the outcome of this dispute, although we wouldn't mind if Garmin won just enough money from TomTom to keep the latter company from producing anymore of those awful TV commercials.
