January 7, 2010 - Skyline Software Systems Inc., a Virginia company, has sued Microsoft for patent infringement, claiming that Microsoft's Bing mapping program is infringing its patented technology.
Skyline's patent, which issued in June 2009, relates to a way of sending 3D images over the Internet.
Microsoft's Bing is designed to compete with the very popular Google Maps, as Microsoft attempts to become more competitive in the search engine field. And Google itself has had a brush with Skyline over a different patent, though a federal judge in Boston ruled that there was no infringement.
Skyline makes terrain-visualization software that shows land masses in 3D on computers and handheld devices. Mostly used by government agencies, the software was used in the Sichuan province of China after the May 2008 earthquake to help with the relief effort.