Microsoft has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against navigation device maker TomTom. The suit alleges that several of TomTom’s products, including some that are Linux-based, infringe on a handful of Microsoft’s patents. Several of the patents in question relate to car computing systems and navigation, but there are also two that cover Microsoft’s FAT32 filesystem. If Microsoft begins to systematically enforce its FAT32 patents, it could have broad ramifications for the Linux platform and for mobile device makers.
The lawsuit, which was reported today at Todd Bishop’s Microsoft blog, is thought to be the first time that Microsoft has directly targeted Linux with patent litigation. In an interview with Bishop, Microsoft deputy general counsel for intellectual property Horacio Gutierrez claims that this is not the beginning of a broader intellectual property campaign against Linux. Gutierrez characterizes the lawsuit as a last resort option that Microsoft is pursuing after attempting to negotiate a private settlement with TomTom for over a year.
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