Could Microsoft be trying to acquire TomTom?

Feb 27, 2009, 03:04 (0 Talkback[s])
(Other stories by Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols)

[ Thanks to Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols for this link. ]

"First, the Linux file system-related patents are, in a word, 'weak.' They may have survived PUBPAT's (Public Patent Foundation) attempt to knock the FAT (File Allocation Table) patents out a few years ago, but Microsoft just squeaked by. No one actually thought that Microsoft would actually try to sue anyone using those patents. It would have been just asking to be smashed as one patent-savvy attorney put it to me.

"And, that was before the Bilski decision, which smashed the legal foundations of most business and software patents. So that's another reason for Microsoft to avoid suing with a weak set of software patents."

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• Jones and Updegrove on Microsoft vs. TomTom(Feb 27, 2009)
• Is Microsoft finally taking Linux to court?(Feb 26, 2009)
• Microsoft sues TomTom over Linux and other patent claims(Feb 26, 2009)
• Hacking the TomTom ONE Through Open Source(Jul 19, 2007)