Nikkei Electronics Asia -- March 2010
Feature
Smartphone Navigation Blindsided: Fallout from the Pioneer Patent Suit

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Mar 1, 2010 00:11 Naoshige Shimizu

Domestic car navigation system manufacturers, trapped in a difficult situation by the appearance of PNDs, are turning to the offensive. Pioneer, with a reputation for winning in patent cases, has launched patent suits related to car navigation in Japan, America and Europe.

(Illustration: Junichi Yamai)

"We figured it was about time for somebody to launch a suit..."

Engineers working at Japanese car navigation system manufacturers evidenced little surprise upon hearing that Pioneer Corp. has initiated a number of patent suits related to car navigation in Japan, America and Europe.

Pioneer has picked its fight with Garmin International, Inc. (holding the top share of the personal navigation device (PND) market worldwide) and NAVITIME JAPAN Co., Ltd. (holding the top share of the Japanese navigation market for mobile telephones). In October and November 2009, Pioneer initiated suits against Garmin with the International Trade Commission (ITC) in the US and the Dusseldorf district court in Germany, and against NAVITIME JAPAN with the Tokyo district court.

The company has requested that the courts prohibit Garmin from importing PNDs into the United States, and similarly seeks an injunction to prevent NAVITIME has providing its point-to-point route search application for use in automobiles, backed up with a demand for compensation to the tune of about one billion yen.

Legal Action: Only a Matter of Time

One of the factors behind the suit is the fact that the influence of Japanese car navigation system manufacturers has shrunk significantly.

Japan was the first to adopt commercial car navigation systems on any serious scale. System manufacturers engaged in full-fledged competition from about 1990, developing expensive, multi-function installed systems and reaping major profits.