TomTom, Inc. announced today that United States District Judge
Barbara B. Crabb of the Western District of Wisconsin granted summary
judgment ending the year long legal battle with Garmin Corp. and
Garmin LTD.
Garmin had brought this litigation against TomTom asserting 5 core
patents. The decision finds that all five Garmin patents asserted
against TomTom in the lawsuit are either invalid or not infringed by
TomTom's popular line of navigation products.
Harold Goddijn, CEO of TomTom said; "We are pleased with the
recognition of the Wisconsin court that this was not a valid case. We
did not start this fight and tried to convince Garmin that the case
did not have merit. Garmin has spent considerable amounts of money and
manpower to try and stop TomTom making inroads into the US market. The
net result is that many of their claims were invalidated. We are
hopeful that Garmin will return to competing in the marketplace
instead of wasting resources on litigation."
Garmin recently filed yet another patent infringement case in
Texas regarding patent number 7062378. TomTom believes that this case
is also without merit and urges Garmin to focus on developing the
market.
TomTom has a strong track record of innovation and leading edge
engineering and has been strengthening its patent portfolio
considerably.
The original TomTom GO, launched in March 2004 is widely
recognized as the world's first mass market navigation product. Frost
& Sullivan gave its 2006 Automotive Telematics & Infotainment Product
of the Year Award to TomTom for its TomTom GO range of products -
"This range has revolutionized the automotive sector, particularly the
aftermarket, while firmly establishing TomTom as the undisputed market
leader among competing portable navigation systems. The introduction
of the TomTom GO in 2004 fundamentally transformed the in-car
infotainment systems aftermarket into a billion-dollar industry."
TomTom has now shipped in excess of 6 million navigation devices and
is the world's undisputed leader in terms of volume. TomTom's latest
product, the TomTom ONE, has been selected as 'Best Buy' by a leading
US consumer organization.
About TomTom
TomTom NV is a leading provider of personal navigation products
and services. TomTom's products are developed with an emphasis on
innovation, quality, ease of use and value. TomTom's products include
all-in-one navigation devices which enable customers to navigate right
out of the box; these are the award-winning TomTom GO family, the
TomTom ONE range and the TomTom RIDER. TomTom PLUS, is the
location-based content and services offering for TomTom's navigation
products easily available through TomTom HOME. TomTom also provides
navigation software products which integrate with third party devices;
the TomTom NAVIGATOR software for PDA's and smartphones. TomTom WORK
combines industry leading communication and smart navigation
technology with leading edge tracking and tracing expertise. TomTom's
products are sold through a network of leading retailers in 20
countries and online. TomTom was founded in 1991 in Amsterdam and has
offices in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. TomTom is listed at
Euronext, Amsterdam Stock Exchange in The Netherlands. For more
information, go to www.tomtom.com.
