Navico – the Norwegian-based parent company of the Lowrance, Simrad and B&G brands – has ended its three-year legal battle with Garmin International over sonar and auto guidance patents. The agreement includes a broad cross licencing of patents and other intellectual property, which will allow both companies to bring new innovations to the market faster and benefit all marine customers, said Navico in a press release.
“Research and development of game-changing technologies like our DownScan Imaging is the lifeblood of our business and the marine electronics industry,” said Leif Ottosson, CEO of Navico. “We are pleased with this resolution, which includes guidelines for the future cross licencing of technologies for the benefit of both our customers.”
“This is an exciting time as new technology is bringing positive change to the marine market,” said Chris Pemble, President and CEO of Garmin. “This resolution allows us to focus all our energy to bring even more innovation to our marine customers.”