Garmin beats back another invalid patent

OLATHE, USA: Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd, the global leader in satellite navigation, announced that on July 7, 2010, the Northern District of Illinois granted Garmin’s motion for summary judgment in SP Technologies, LLC v.

Garmin International Inc. and TomTom, Inc. and issued an Order invalidating all asserted claims of US Patent 6,784,873. This is the third consecutive patent suit that Garmin has successfully concluded by aggressively attacking invalid patents asserted by non-practicing patent holding companies.

“We are pleased with this judgment – it reaffirms our belief that courts are willing to take decisive action against bad patents when presented with solid evidence of their invalidity. Companies like Garmin, that employ innovators, manufacture products, and sell goods in the market, should not be forced to settle lawsuits that assert patents that never should have issued from the Patent Office,” said Andrew Etkind, Garmin’s Vice President and General Counsel.

Etkind also indicated his hope that Garmin’s string of victories might influence other actual market participants: “We hope other companies will begin to invest the necessary resources to invalidate patents that are clearly anticipated by prior inventions and stem the tide of these patent lawsuits.”