Google bites back at patent infringement claim

Google has bitten back at a patent infringement claim brought by software solution provider InfoGation against Google’s partners HTC, ZTE and Huawei.

In a lawsuit filed on Friday, October 7, at the US District Court for the Northern District of California, Google sought a declaratory judgment that it does not infringe one of InfoGation’s patents.

InfoGation had sued HTC, ZTE and Huawei in July this year at the US District Court for the Southern District of California, claiming infringement of US patent number 6,292,743.

The patent, which relates to navigation and route information, is alleged to have been infringed by the defendants’ smartphones running the Android operating system and Google Maps.

But Google has counterclaimed, alleging that InfoGation “sued the wrong defendants in the wrong forum”.

“InfoGation’s allegations are premised entirely on purported functionality of the Google Maps application on the Android platform―an application that is not developed by HTC, ZTE, and Huawei, but by Google, which is based in the Northern District of California,” said the suit.

Google said that in a bid to resolve the dispute, it has sought a judicial declaration that Google Maps and any devices from Google’s partners using that tool on the Android platform do not infringe the patent.

The multinational technology company also said that the claims brought by InfoGation “threaten” its business and relationships with its partners.

Google is seeking a declaration of non-infringement, a jury trial, a finding that this is an exceptional case, and costs and attorneys’ fees.