Patent Case Review: Waze and Google vs. Makor

On Monday, February 22, the popular navigation app Waze and owner Google were sued in Delaware federal court by the Israeli-based Makor Issues and Rights Limited. This software company sued Waze and Google on grounds that Waze and Google are infringing two patents it owns.

Makor argued in the patent suit that Waze and Google are directly using technology in Google Maps and the Waze App that are included in patents the Israeli company has owned since the early 2000s. These patents are concerned with traffic monitoring technology that enables drivers to avoid traffic jams. If you have ever used the Waze app before, this is one of the key features of the app – Waze users can update traffic information in their location to help other users of the app avoid certain routes and traffic.

The two specific patents mentioned in Makor’s suit are U.S. #6,480,783 and U.S. #6,615,130 (the “783” and “130” patents). The “783” patent is titled “Real time vehicle guidance and forecasting system under traffic jam conditions,” and the “130” patent is titled “Real time vehicle guidance and traffic forecasting system.”

In the lawsuit, Makor points out that the company has owned these patents since the early 2000s and that Waze and Google “knew or should have known” of the valid ‘783 and ‘130 patents. Their hoped outcome includes an unspecified amount of damages, payment of attorney’s fees, and a judgment that Google and Waze have infringed Makor’s intellectual property.

In contrast to the Apple-VirnetX patent suit where VirnetX does not actually develop any technology, Makor was the actual company that created this intellectual property and filed the patent. It will be interesting to see how Google and Waze respond to this lawsuit. Google is certainly familiar with patent suits, as it is currently involved in a number of litigation suits.