A new lawsuit claims Apple Maps infringed on another company's navigation patents.
It appears that it is now open season for Apple. The company lately is the subject of several lawsuits ranging from antitrust violations and unfair practices to promoting and profiting from illegal gambling. Today, it became the subject of a new lawsuit, this time on patent infringement. A New Jersey company alleged that Apple Maps infringed on their navigation patents.
Lawsuit claims Apple Maps infringes on navigation patentshttps://t.co/GQtwiQ3PpB pic.twitter.com/AhQQlkfZwv — AppleInsider (@appleinsider) September 16, 2020
Reports reveal that New Jersey-based company Omnitek filed a complaint against the Cupertino tech giant and its Apple Maps service. In the documents that Omnitek filed in court, it claimed that Apple infringed on several of its navigation patents, particularly those relating to how users enter their starting points and endpoints for a route.
A Portfolio Of Patents
Online news outlet AppleInsider reported that Omnitek filed the lawsuit against Apple in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. According to the company, the Apple Maps app infringes on their navigation patents, which provide users with driving directions even without entering text into the query. According to reports, Omnitek owns a portfolio of patents, including the two patents they alleged Apple Maps infringed upon.
Court documents show that the patents in question, U.S. Patent No. 8,645,057 and U.S. Patent No. 8,224,569, focus on software-based driving directions. It provides users with detailed directions on how to get to their destinations from their starting point even without entering text into the query. Omnitek claims that the same functionality became available on Apple Maps long after the New Jersey-based company got approval for the patents, which is why they filed a lawsuit against Apple Maps for patent infringement.
The Navigation Route Feature
According to Omnitek, their patented navigation route feature allows users to select their starting locations and endpoints using various gestures like taps and drags. There are also user preference settings that allow you to avoid toll roads. Omnitek said that the Cupertino tech giant, through its Apple Maps app, intentionally infringed on the New Jersey-based company's navigation patents. In documents the company filed showing it is asking for a trial by jury, Omnitek also claimed that Apple's actions "aid and abet others to infringe" on the New Jersey company's technology.
Industry observers consider the patent infringement lawsuit filed by Omnitek against Apple Maps as interesting as the technology that the New Jersey-based company is basing its complaint on appears similar to nearly all mapping service available on most smartphones today. To date, it remains unclear whether Omnitek is also going to sue navigation services like Waze and Google Maps, as they also use practically the same methods when entering routes.
