Sonar Wars: Garmin v Navico
Garmin responds to 'misleading statements from Navico' in the DownVu patent investigation. Business as usual hereGarmin International announced on Monday August 29, 2016, its response to a modified order by the International Trade Commission (ITC) on August 18, 2016, in the long-running investigation brought by Navico Holdings AS against Garmin.
Garmin makes the point the modified ITC order did not address Garmin’s new tilted DownVü™ scanning sonar transducer design — which Garmin strongly asserts does not infringe — that it has been shipping since December 2015 after the previous decision was made by the ITC.
Garmin asserts the status of its new tilted transducer design, relative to any of Navico’s patents, is still a matter before the courts and government agencies and, it adds, Navico has never accused Garmin’s new tilted design of infringement before the ITC.
On August 25, 2016, Navico issued a press release regarding the ITC’s modified order that incorrectly asserts that the new tilted design infringes on their patents as no court or government agency has ever made any infringement ruling on Garmin’s new tilted transducer design.
In fact, the modified ITC order confirmed the ITC’s previous decision made in December 2015, that Garmin can import and sell Garmin DownVü scanning sonar transducers, including the original design, because they do not separately infringe any valid claim of Navico’s patents.
The modified ITC order also left in place the ITC’s earlier decision that Garmin’s chartplotters do not infringe any of Navico’s patents. The modified ITC order applies only to Garmin and has no impact on any existing distributor, dealer, or retailer inventory or any products already purchased by our customers.
All of these issues are currently pending before the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the court with review authority over the ITC, and Garmin anticipates a definitive ruling on these topics in early 2017.
Meantime, it's business as usual for Garmin and Navico owners and operators outside this court boxing ring. More on Garmin products in Australia at
www.garmin.com/en-AU.
Tags
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
