RSSMicrosoft sues TomTom over Linux kernel
By Tim Conneally | Published February 26, 2009, 1:06 PM
This week, Microsoft issued a copyright infringement suit in US district court and with the US International Trade Commission against Dutch PND maker TomTom, claiming the company has violated eight of Microsoft's patents.
From Microsoft's filing with the USITC, the company says, "The portable navigation computing devices in question run a version of the Linux operating system, which is a general purpose operating system capable of supporting a wide variety of software applications. For example, the Linux operating system on the portable navigation computing devices executes a navigation application that uses the GPS data provided by the GPS receiver to generate driving directions. The Linux operating system used in the personal navigation computing device and/or the software applications supported by the operating system also provide the devices with additional functionality such as file system support for long and short file names, memory management for flash memory commonly used on such devices, and a platform for integrating and controlling various electronic components used with the portable navigation computing devices, such as other components in a vehicle."
The three Microsoft patents the company cites in this passage are the following:
#5,579,517 and #5,758,352 -- "Common Name Space for Long and Short Filenames"
#6,256,642 -- "Method and System for File System Management Using a Flash-Erasable, Programmable, Read-only Memory"
The other five patents in the federal case are more general in nature, involving the fundamental technology of portable navigation devices. This is reportedly the third time Microsoft has sued TomTom over intellectual property rights, but many are wondering what a suit against a Linux implementer means in the company's overall stance on open source.
Andrew Updegrove of tech law firmGesmer Updegrove says this case is, "No sea change. At most, [it's] a minor course correction" which reflects several things. First, Horacio Gutierrez was promoted to the top licensing spot only a week ago and this is an assertion of his position there. The move will strengthen the credibility of the licensing team who are going to be looking for licensing fees from smaller companies making mobile devices and netbooks in the coming months. Microsoft has reportedly established over 500 patent licensing deals since 2004.
Updegrove says it also reflects "the ongoing internal divisions within Microsoft between the proprietary old guard and the more enlightened new guys (including Ozzie) that either 'get' open source software, or at least understand that Microsoft's customers do. With layoffs, a bad quarter, and the specter of further losses to Linux-based netbooks and mobile devices clouding the view ahead, perhaps it was politically expedient to throw the old guard a bone."
"What I don't see, really, is any likelihood that a major shift has occurred, and that this is the beginning of the long-feared Microsoft vs. Linux Armageddon." Updegrove said, "Simply put, it just doesn't make sense."
"...A business trying to kill off their competition?? *gasp* Oh, the horror!
/sarcasm.."
Yeah...I have to wonder for how long that will be considered capitalism under the current political atmosphere.
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|Quoting Updegrove on anything regarding MSFT is just poor judgment, Tim. The guy is almost as bad of a MSFT troll as iTard7.
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|i agree
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|I've got comments from other pundits/representatives pending, hopefully they'll be just as acerbic.
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|lol!
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|This is pathetic! M$ will soon patent "computer use", so if you wana use computer, you must pay to them. This is bull ***** (yes that!)
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|Seriously... long file names was/is patentable? Patent courts/laws would be a lot less hairy if patents were only granted to truly unique ideas, not just an addition or minor change to an old idea... oh wait, that's what patents are supposed to be anyway!
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|Can anyone read?
It's not the long file name, it is the "Common Name Space".
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|More patents coming. "File name able to mix uppercase and lower case", "File name that can be renamed", "Different name space for filenames", "Filenames using at least 1 character, ..." Oh jeeze it's so easy to patent an idea. Already 4 in less than 5 minutes. I hope the judge would have some common sense to dismiss these unfair patent ideas.
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|Fascinating capabilities.
MS may have a patent, but ALL of those capabilities, including the use of color, were present in the Mac (AND the Amiga, if I am not mistaken) for years before MS figured out how to copy and patent them.
And to think Apple lost the 'look and feel' suit!
This is hilarous fodder for the PC/Mac commercials.
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|Actually, it pre-dates Mac. Long file names etc have been in Unix and Xerox systems for years and years. There is more here than patents over long file names. If that was the case then the patent holder would/could sue every device / system maker around. Obviously the article does not give a complete picture of the suit.
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|@foxfyre: The exact same process using the exact same methods?
Doubtful.
Lame regardless, but doubtful.
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|Micro$oft just can't resist the urge to do absolutely everything in their power to try and kill off anything "Open" or "Free" or anything non-Micro$oft, really. Watch any interview with Bill Gate$ where he's asked about Linux. The whole concept of "Open Standards" and/or "Open Source" makes him almost physically ill.
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|A business trying to kill off their competition?? *gasp* Oh, the horror!
/sarcasm
Still, this particular move is pretty lame. And no, foxfyre, it has less to do with long file names, and more to do with how they are stored in the same space as the "short" version of the name.
Example:
("C:\Program Files"="C:\progra~1" being stored in the same way/space.
The other bit sounds like Readyboost? *shrug*
Regardless, it's still a stretch and I wouldn't be surprised is the poster below is correct and their just trying to get some case-law behind them before they try to end-run reason and logic. ;)
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|Yeah, like MS is going to put the genie called Linux back into the bottle - especially as IBM is the largest UNIX and Linux developer with a patent library that dwarfs ALL of MS.
Yup. Long file names started with MS! LOL! They were the LAST on board with such rudimentary features!
This isn't the start of a battle with the likes of SCO.
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|foxfyre- this is just Microsoft checking the legitimacy of their "war" on linux. If this case flies then you can all expect to see a lot more of them. OR when this one is over, you will see a LOT of linux people cozying up to MS.
I am suprised it to them this long to start the "war"...
Good luck to all you penguins out there...
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|LOL
This is a hoot. As if MS developed long filenames - you know, that which they could not do for several years after another OS had them from inception...
So now MS is going after the little folks instead of the OS developers of the system they use...
After all, how DARE they use Linux.
I guess TomTom should simply s*** to a variant of Linux such as Fedora or Suse covered by MS's 'oh so gracious' IP sharing agreements with Red Hat and Novell...
Now, one might wonder what the outcry would be if, say, a really heinous company like Apple did this?
Finally a substantial issue the EU trade commission, oops, I mean court, can jump on!
Yup, throw the 'old guard' a bone, as you further damage the 'good will' of the larger marketplace.
"The move will strengthen the credibility of the licensing team who are going to be looking for licensing fees from smaller companies making mobile devices and netbooks in the coming months."
Yup, so MS has taken a page from the RIAA handbook!
Smart marketing strategy folks. Cause we all know how TomTom is substantially damaging the MS bottomline!
LOL!
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