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TomTom

TomTom was sued by Microsoft and eventually paid Microsoft for FAT (filesystem) in Linux. Our posts about the company, in order of relevance:

Primary posts

  • TomTom CEO Explains Why Patents Are Waste of Time, Money (before the lawsuit)
  • A Deeper Look at TomTom’s Patent Case Against Microsoft (a lot of analysis and links)
  • TomTom Sues the “Patent Troll” Microsoft (TomTom countersued before settlement)
  • Open Invention Network (OIN) Extends The Linux Ecosystem As TomTom Becomes Licensee
  • TomTomaginot Line: Fighting Microsoft Using Patent Pools (criticism of the above)
  • Patents Roundup: OIN to Strike Back, Apple Clarifies, Lawsuits Continue, and Turnaround Foreseen
  • OIN Keeps Its Promise, Strikes Back at Microsoft’s FAT
  • SFLC: Step Back and Re-think How Friendly Microsoft is to Free/Open Source Software (Updated) (SFLC response to TomTom lawsuit)
  • Coverage of Microsoft’s Pathetic Patent Attacks on GNU/Linux (SFLC audiocast about TomTom lawsuit)
  • TomTom Case is Closed, But the Fight Over FAT Can Hurt Microsoft (summary after the settlement)
  • TomTom Caves; Will Microsoft Start Charging for Mono Next? (the settlement)
  • Mike Sax and Other Microsoft Lobbyists Spin the TomTom Case in Linux Web Sites/Blogs (Microsoft lobbying from Association for Competitive Technology (ACT) for software patents)
  • Microsoft Uses Pressure Groups to Push Software Patents Into Europe (more Association for Competitive Technology (ACT) lobbying)
  • OIN Explains TomTom’s Settlement with Microsoft (and Other Patent News) (important information that came later)
  • TomTom Paid Less Than €500,000 to Microsoft (more information that came months later)
  • Patents Roundup: TomTom, The ‘Bilski Test’, Junk Patents, and Ambush
  • Why Microsoft is Likely to Lose the TomTom Case (Plus Summary) (reaction to the new case that was filed)
  • Microsoft Interoperability Crushed by the TomTom Case (case impact and lessons)
  • Patents Roundup: Microsoft’s FAT Ambush, RPX “Protection Racket”, and Life-threatening Patents (Microsoft uses TomTom for taxation many months later)
  • Microsoft Wants to Make Something Out of Nothing to Fight GNU/Linux
  • Novell Joins Microsoft Seminar While Microsoft Hits Red Hat with “IP” Slurs (business as usual at Novell, despite lawsuits)
  • General Electric Joins Microsoft’s Fight Against Free Software (some TomTom updates)
  • Patents Roundup: Splashtop Encumbered by Patents, Google Linux Phone Sued by Patent Troll, TomTom Update and More
  • Microsoft’s Racketeering with Patents and Abolition of Software Patents Reexamined (hypocrisy with TomTom remembered)
  • USPTO Starts Rejecting Software Patents While Germany Mistakenly Overrides the Law and Approves Microsoft’s


  • Secondary posts (minor updates and mentions)

  • Patents Roundup: TomTom, Microsoft, Patent Trolls, Red Hat, IBM, Google, Bilski and Reform
  • Did Tomboy Learn from TomTom? Project Forked, Moves Away from Microsoft ‘Standards’
  • European Action Organised Against “Economic Parasite” (Microsoft) After TomTom Lawsuit
  • Patents Roundup: Reform, Case Against Linux, Microsoft Patent Trolls and More
  • Quick Mention: Microsoft, Amid/Near Debt, Declares Legal War on Linux
  • Novell Spreads More .NET in Mac OS X, Windows, Leads to Patent Trouble
  • Microsoft’s Armament Against Free Software and Other Software Patents News
  • Bruce Perens Calls Novell a “Highly Paid [Microsoft Mouthpiece”] (role of Novell
  • Easy-LTSP Dumps Mono/C#, Rewritten in Python Instead
  • A Look at the Microsoft-funded SCO Lawsuit in Light of Newer Anti-Linux Microsoft Lawsuits (including TomTom)
  • Another Company Affiliated with Microsoft Sues Red Hat Using Software Patents (Keith Bergelt from OIN makes a remark)
  • Mono: An Infectious Disease — An Article by Chris Smart (lesson for Novell/Mono, from TomTom)
  • Treasonous Melco-Microsoft Linux Deal Already Costing Melco Business
  • Microsoft Uses Pseudo “Open Source” to Fight Against GNU/Linux and the GPL
  • Patents Roundup: Microsoft Trolls, Lobbyists, and End[ing Software Patents (ESP)]
  • Jeremy Allison Recommends Passing Mono Software to Basket of Proprietary Software (TomTom as a lesson; see Mono)
  • Microsoft Moonlight Reaches New Milestone So Microsoft Crowd Rejoices (Moonlight ignoring TomTom precedence)
  • Fedora “Concerned” About Mono for Legal Reasons, Ubuntu Debate Carries on (Red Hat pays attention)
  • Announcement: Mono-Free Tomboy Replacement (Gnote) Releases Version 0.2.0 (to be supported by Red Hat)
  • ZDNet/eWeek Ruins Peter Judge’s Good Article by Attacking Red Hat When Microsoft Does the Crime (some TomTom humour)
  • Microsoft Tells Antitrust Regulators to Sod Off For Another Couple of Weeks (ECIS mentions TomTom in complaint)
  • Tax Dodger Microsoft Wants Linux to Pay Microsoft Tax for Storage Devices


  • Posts categorised as including "TomTom" can be browsed here (latest first, oldest at the end).