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Sunday, May 18, 2014

AmNav Sues Apple For Using Maps On Their Devices


Another company is going after Apple for some of that green stuff!

American Navigation Systems, Inc (AmNav) has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple concerning the use of GPS on Apple's mobile devices. According to the filing earlier this week, AmNav says the inventors of their acquired patent "conceived a way to display GPS data in real time on a portable mapping device."

By incorporating GPS technology in their mobile devices, companies like Apple and Samsung have allegedly infringed on the patent AmNav holds.

Back in 1995, Doug Backman teamed up with Frank DeFalco, Gene Roe, and William Michalson on a GPS project in the New England area. In 1996, after coming up with a way to display GPS data on a portable device, they successfully tested out a prototype while driving around Worcester, Massachusetts. In 1999, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) issued Patent Number 5,902,347 (the "347 Patent") for a "Hand-Held GPS Mapping Device."

According to AmNav, Apple started using Maps in their iPhone since launch in 2007. By using either Google Maps or Apple Maps, Apple is accused of infringing the 347 Patent. In the lawsuit, AmNav has specifically listed every Apple product to use a Mapping application starting from the iPhone 3G to the 5S and every iPad and iPad Mini.

The complaint goes on to state the following: "The ability of Apple's smartphones, tablets, and other devices to practice the inventions of the 347 Patent accounts for much of the value of those devices. A survey in August 2013, for instance, crowned Google Maps as the most popular smartphone application of all; the survey found that 54 percent of all global smartphone users used Google Maps at least once during a one-month period."

AmNav is seeking a royalty from Apple for the infringement. Interestingly, AmNav is listed as a Non Practicing Entity (NPE) and their name is only associated with lawsuits according to a Google search on the company. The company joins one of many reparation-seekers against Apple, sometimes referred to as Patent Trolls.

Source: Patently Apple

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