"Andrew Halliwell" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
amicus_curious <[email protected]> wrote:
Who? Tomtom?
In europe? (I presume as they're a european company, that's where the
trial
will be held...?)
It will be held in the US District Court for the Western District of
Washington at Seattle.
If not, tomtom could just utterly ignore anything microsoft says.
They're
out of their jurisdiction. American laws do not apply.
They do in the USofA, where the suit is filed and the complaint was
served.
It is like saying that the EU cannot do anything to Microsoft because
they
are an American company.
That depends if tomtom have any offices in america.
If they do, they might be sensible to shut them all down and move to
civilisation. North of the border. Then the yanks shout and shriek as much
as they want and tomtom can just say "screw you".
If they don't have any offices in america, good luck on getting them to
even
show up in court. They're under no legal obligation to under EU law.
Well, I think you are not fully aware of the meaning of these suits. First
off, Tom-Tom does have an incorporated subsidiary in the US and that is the
entity being sued in Washington. Second, a failure to show up and defend
the suit would surely place it on the list of items that the government
could seize for such a patent violation. I am sure that Tom-Tom's business
activity in the USofA is something that they hold dear and would be loath to
abandon so cavalierly as you suggest.
Europe still holds software patents as extremely dubious if not illegal.
A few have slipped through but they've by no means been accepted like
they
have in america.
Tom-Tom is free to abandon the US market if they wish to avoid US courts,
of
course, but the profits here are just too tempting. It is the same way
with
Mr. Softee in the EU. They cover their higher costs of business by
raising
prices a little.
Would america impose a trade embargo if they tried importing more tomtoms
into america if they shut up shop and moved out of the country?
Does microsoft have that much power?
Not Microsot per se, but the US Customs Service surely does. They have guns
and things to help out with the process.
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