[NEWS] Pioneer Sues Garmin Over Navigation Technology

[phillynewsnow]

Pioneer has lodged a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission against Garmin alleging some of its products infringe on Pioneer patents.







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[roopull]

The future looks dim for Garmin!

[iamdasht19]

i dont understand this suing game to tell the truth... patents are being so called broken on the smallest things now a days.... it seems as if almost everything has been thought of and down in a certain manner with patents attached, this makes it hard for new technology to come out without stepping on the toes of that patent owner. i think the world is just wayyy to money hungry and power means too much to the average person.... dont see this changing anytime soon and this in my opinion is really limiting the amount of growth that we will see in the technology industry.

[roopull]

True, Dash.

It's patent-warfare, and it's not a new game. Even if Pioneer believes it will eventually lose the battle, stalling the sale of the newest Garmin devices in the US would be a major victory for them. Generally, these corporations keep plenty of attorneys on hand, so having them file countless injunctions isn't actually an expense at all. This is a no-cost way to battle the competition.

I think it's silly, really. It's like bickering over table scraps while on board the Titanic... AFTER she hit the iceberg. The GPS navigation device market is about to tank & anyone in the industry knows it. Garmin's days in the car-based GPS device market are severely numbered. Sure, they'll likely survive by making devices for planes, boats & other devices, but the days of a GPS device suction cupped to your dash are about to be gone.


We technofiles have been chatting about "converged devices" for years, and while the PC and TV aren't on the cusp of becoming completely converged, GPS devices are. They're being sucked either into the dash via things like Ford/M-Soft's Sync or are being sucked into our phones.


So, why would a GIANT in the auto-electronics industry that dabbles in GPS be concerned with Garmin?



Behold... the G60. That's Garmin's little Nuvi-phone. See, Garmin, although a bit of a slow learner, has figured out that the only way they're going to keep their devices on your dash & under your Christmas tree is to merge their GPS devices with other devices. In other words, they're finally warming up to the "converged device" idea.

Converged devices? Garmin? That, no doubt, has piqued Pioneer's interest. Just when Pioneer thought they were going to knock Garmin out of the ring, they realize Garmin still has a little fight left. If they're going to do phones, today, what's going to stop them from making head-units for cars? If they do that, they're stepping all over Pioneer's bread & butter.


What to do... what to do... stall em!


Quick, someone file a copyright complaint & injunction!!!