Court issues rulings in favor of Zexel and NavTech in Etak patent dispute.SUNNYVALE, Calif.,--(AutomotiveWire)--April 28, 1997--The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has entered rulings in favor of Zexel and NavTech in the patent suit filed in 1994 by Etak against Zexel (No. C-94-4041 SC (N.D. Cal)). Etak had alleged that Zexel USA's route guidance system, NavMate, infringed two Etak patents. In 1995, Navigation Technologies, the database supplier to Zexel, filed claims against Etak seeking declaration that the Etak patents were invalid, unenforceable Adj. 1. unenforceable - not enforceable; not capable of being brought about by compulsion; "an unenforceable law"; "unenforceable reforms" enforceable - capable of being enforced , and not infringed by Zexel's systems. In January 1997, Zexel and NavTech filed four summary judgment motions asserting non-infringement and patent invalidity. Etak also filed four motions for summary judgment concerning infringement and validity. On March 31, 1997, the Court denied all of Etak's motions, but partially granted all of Zexel's and NavTech's motions. The '191 Patent Three of the summary judgment motions concerned Etak's U.S. Patent No. 4,796,191 ("the '191 patent"). The '191 patent relates to map matching, which uses certain sensors, other hardware, software, and map data to determine vehicle position. The Court found that of the 78 claims of the '191 patent, claims 1-77 are either not infringed or are invalid. Claim 78 of the '191 patent -- the only remaining claim -- remains in dispute. The '605 Patent The fourth motion for summary judgment motion for summary judgment n. a written request for a judgment in the moving party's favor before a lawsuit goes to trial and based on recorded (testimony outside court) affidavits (or declarations under penalty of perjury), depositions, admissions of fact, answers filed by Zexel and NavTech concerned Etak's U.S. Patent No. 4,914,605 ("the '605 patent"). The '605 patent relates to map display. At issue were both current and discontinued versions of the NavMate system. With respect to the current version of NavMate, the Court found that the '605 patent is not infringed in any way. With respect to discontinued versions of NavMate, the Court found that 21 of the 30 claims at issue in the '605 patent were not infringed; the other 9 claims remain in dispute. Navigation Technologies Founded in 1985, Navigation Technologies (Navtech) is the premier builder and supplier of superior quality, continuously updated navigable NAVIGABLE. Capable of being navigated. 2. In law, the term navigable is applied to the sea, to arms of the sea, and to rivers in which the tide flows and reflows. 5 Taunt. R. 705; S. C. Eng. Com. Law Rep. 240; 5 Pick. R. 199; Ang. Tide Wat. 62; 1 Bouv. Inst. n. map databases for both North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. and Europe. The NavTech(TM) Navigable Map Database contains detailed information about roadways including turn restrictions, address ranges, road signage, and hundreds of thousands of Points of Interest including restaurants, shopping centers shopping center, a concentration of retail, service, and entertainment enterprises designed to serve the surrounding region. The modern shopping center differs from its antecedents—bazaars and marketplaces—in that the shops are usually amalgamated into , and ATMs. Applications using the NavTech(TM) Database include automotive (in-vehicle) navigation systems A GPS-based electronic system in a car or truck that provides a real time map of the vehicle's current location as well as step-by-step directions to a programmed destination. See GPS and vehicle tracking. , Internet navigation products and fleet management systems, among others. Navigation Technologies is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California Sunnyvale ([sʌniveil]) is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is one of the major cities that make up the Silicon Valley. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 131,760. , and Sulzbach, Germany and has 65 field offices and more than 900 employees worldwide. CONTACT: Navigation Technologies Larry Kaplan Larry Kaplan is an American video game designer and programmer. He initially worked at Atari and was responsible for a lot of their sales. Due to the lack of recognition for his work, he left Atari and became one of the five co-founders of Activision. , 847/699-7070 |
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