REDMOND, Wash. – March 19, 2009 – On Feb. 25, 2009, Microsoft filed a legal action in the U.S. District Court of Western Washington and with the International Trade Commission (ITC) against TomTom, a car navigation company based in the Netherlands, for infringement of eight Microsoft patents. Today, TomTom filed a countersuit against Microsoft in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Microsoft has issued the following statement from Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of Intellectual Property and Licensing, Microsoft Corporation:

"We are reviewing TomTom's filing, which we have just received. As has been the case for more than a year, we remain committed to a licensing solution, although we will continue to press ahead with the complaints we initiated in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington and the International Trade Commission."