CHICAGO — Adamasu Gebre, inventor and owner of various United States patents directed toward navigation and real time traffic technology, announced that he has entered into a licensing and technology agreement with Thales Navigation, Inc. relating to its manufacturing and distribution of navigation products incorporating real time traffic features such as the Magellan Roadmate 760 and 860T.
“I am glad that we were able to come to terms with one of the major players in the United States navigation market” said Gebre. “We have now come to terms with Thales Navigation. Since license negotiations are ongoing with other navigation market participants, we anticipate announcing other similar arrangements in the near term.”
In 2005, Gebre filed a lawsuit in the federal district court in Chicago against NAVTEQ and Motorola alleging infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 5,247,439 and 5,297,049. [Civil No. 05-C-6895] Gebre alleged that NAVTEQ’s NavTraffic product and Motorola’s vehicle navigation systems infringe the ‘049 and ‘439 patents. Despite the settlement with Thales, Gebre’s litigation against NAVTEQ and Motorola continues.
“We are encouraged by Mr. Gebre’s ability to successfully enforce his patent rights” said David Wright of the Salt Lake City based law firm Workman Nydegger. “We are pleased that we have been able to facilitate business arrangements between Mr. Gebre and one of the major players in navigation, and remain confident that other similar arrangements will be forthcoming” Workman Nydegger recently made news in the patent world by obtaining a $115 million dollar verdict against DirecTV [Civil No. 1:05-CV-264 (E.D. Texas)]. The verdict ranks among the higher jury verdict judgments ever obtained in the United States for a patent dispute.
Providing routing information to a vehicle, including real time traffic information, and incorporating such information into a vehicle’s navigation system has been the focus of Adamasu Gebre’s research since the late 1970’s. Over the past twenty years, Mr. Gebre has secured patents in the United States and Europe directed to his research and developments. Mr. Gebre is the inventor and owner of U.S. Patent Nos. 5,126,941, 5,247,439, 5,297,049, 5,504,683 and 6,314,368. In addition to his ownership of navigation company, NAVCOM Antillean N.V., Mr. Gebre is president and CEO of NAVCOM, PLC. NAVCOM, PLC is an Ethiopian based energy company focused on assisting rural communities in developing critical water and electrical infrastructure through use of wind and hydroelectric generation units.