TomTom settles satnav row

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San Francisco - Microsoft and Netherlands-based vehicle navigation systems firm TomTom said Monday that they have settled a budding legal dispute over patents.

TomTom agreed to pay the US software giant to use patented car navigation and file management technology and to also let Microsoft use some of TomTom's technology, according to a joint announcement.

"This agreement puts an end to the litigation between our two companies" said TomTom IP Strategy and Transactions director Peter Spours.

Microsoft in February filed complaints against TomTom in US district court and with the International Trade Commission. TomTom filed a counter-suit accusing Microsoft of infringing on some of its patented technology.

Horacio Gutierrez, deputy general counsel of intellectual property and licensing at Microsoft, said at the time that licensing talks between Microsoft and TomTom had dragged on for more than a year with no worthwhile results.

The deal that settled the dispute is to last five years and does not involve Microsoft paying any money to TomTom, according to the companies.

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but payment due to Microsoft is to be based on past and future US sales of TomTom devices.

"We are pleased TomTom has chosen to resolve the litigation amicably by entering into a patent agreement," Gutierrez said Monday.

"We were able to work with TomTom to develop a patent agreement that addresses their needs and ours in a pragmatic way."

TomTom bills itself as the world's leading "navigation solutions provider."

TomTom devices such as its popular GO guide drivers by using satellite tracking of vehicles along with a vast database built with the help of digital map firm TeleAtlas, which it bought in 2008.

Early this year, TomTom launched GO 740 Live services that stream real-time traffic updates, weather, and local fuel prices to navigation devices that typically mount on dashboards.

Live also enables people to search the Internet using Google.