On February 22nd, Google Inc.’s navigation app, better known as Waze, was accused of infringing on two patents owned by Makor Issues & Rights Ltd.. Makor is a software company based in Israel that claims it owns two traffic monitoring technology patents that have been infringed on by Waze. In particular, these technology patents help drivers avoid traffic jams, a key factor behind the design of Waze.
These two patents, specifically United States Patent Nos. 6,480,783 and 6,615,130, are said to have been filed in the early 2000s by Makor. Makor claims these patents allow users to receive real-time traffic information via a mobile device. If the court rules in favor of Makor’s patents, this type of information will affect Google Maps as well, as it also relies on a similar type of real-time technology.
Makor Issues & Rights Ltd. is currently demanding an unspecified payment for damages inflicted by Google’s Waze because of an infringement on its intellectual property. While Google is very accustomed to lawsuits involving patents, notably its large battles with Oracle America Inc. and Priceplay.com Inc., the court has yet to decide on a final ruling for the case. This case in progress could have extreme repercussions for Google Inc. if Makor Issues & Rights Ltd. comes out on top of the case.
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