March 5, 2012 - PanoMap Technologies LLC, a Florida company, filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple and Google in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. PanoMap alleges that its patent, U.S. Patent No. 6,563,529, is infringed by the use of Google Maps' Street View on the iPad and iPhone.
PanoMap's patent relates to "a method and system for indicating the camera position, direction and field of view in a map or panoramic image."
In its complaint, PanoMap alleges that the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices use "methods for displaying a detailed view of an area within a territory, including synchronised map displays indicating direction origin and angular direction, that infringe the 529 Patent.”
PanoMap is seeking triple damages because it claims Apple accessed a website operated by the original patent owner in July 2007, which means that Apple and Google would have known about the patent and thus willfully infringed it.