How can anyone use a smartphone without Google Maps? And wasn't Google the first one to get into this space? Turns out that Google is likely to be held liable in court for infringement of a Microsoft patent regarding computer systems for identifying local resources and method thereafter. (See the full story
here!)
 |
| Google maps running on Android devices. |
Europe uses a different patent system than the US, but Microsoft has ownership of the European equivalent of the patent as well. So far, Google has failed to persuade the German courts that their interpretation does not align with Microsoft's patent. And so Microsoft is seeking a patent injunction against the Google Maps service (the same one that we see on our mobile devices, except in Germany). If this goes through fully, Google will be forced to stop selling the Google Maps app in Germany, and will even need to disable existing access to Google Maps for users with German IP addresses.
The interesting part is that Microsoft initially started out by suing Motorola over the distribution of the Google Maps app. Motorola denied to have knowledge of how Google's servers work and so Microsoft swooped Google into the accusation. But other Android device maker's using Google's systems have already recognized that the Android mobile OS uses Microsoft's patented technology, and so they have already set up license agreements. On the other hand, Motorola has refused to admit to the use of Microsoft's technology, but with this recent battle on the horizon, Google ought best to be truthful and submit to a license agreement before they are banned completely.
Quick note: Sandy you have a unique blogging style.
ReplyDeleteSometimes it seems that some technologies are so fundamental in the future that is very little way to engineer around the technology. Perhaps at the time of the discover it may seem very novel, but at this point it's past common knowledge. It seems Google may have tried to find a way to engineer around but with little to no success, this dominance over the marketplace in Microsoft's big bottleneck over Google in the German area
-James Maa
It is hard to believe that such a popular everyday tool like Google Maps may be inaccessible to some people, but if this does follow through, I hope Microsoft can provide something that can replace what Google has been able to provide. Companies calling themselves as true innovators should understand their responsibility and integrity when they try to ban other products, they shouldn't take something that's truly great and better. It may be true that they patented the idea first, but they shouldn't completely ban someone else who has improved upon it.
ReplyDelete