Tom Tom and Microsofts Linux patent lock-down ..

[Doug Mentohl]

'Microsoft's got a long history of licensing its File Allocation 
Table/Long File Name (FAT LFN) with companies in the car navigation 
space and that have specifically been using Linux and open source'

'Microsoft's corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of 
intellectual property and licensing Horacio Gutierrez said 18 companies 
had signed up, including Kenwood, Alpine, and Pioneer'

'Microsoft is eroding Linux and open source and slowing their 
development. A deal with Microsoft prevents GPL'd code from returning to 
the ecosystem whence it came, with any improvements or updates, as 
companies that do patent licensing deals with Microsoft must keep it 
in-house ...'

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/06/microsoft_tomtom_patent_licensing/