Patent War Over Sonar Tech Churns To Foregone Conclusion

In the ongoing patent dispute between Garmin International Inc. and Norwegian company Navico Inc. a lot of money is changing hands. It’s going to counsel for both sides. On Sept. 8 a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas ruled that Garmin willfully infringed two of Navico’s patents for its “downscan” sonar technology, and awarded Navico $38 million in damages, but that money isn’t going anywhere. Andrew Etkind, Garmin’s general counsel, said the company plans to appeal – a good idea, since the case will go to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the same court that ruled in Garmin’s favor three months ago in a suit concerning the same technology. “We disagree with the verdict on the patents,” Etkind said in a release. “We expect to succeed in our appeal, as the federal patent appeals court has already concluded that Navico’s other downscan patents are not valid.”