Please don't turn this into brand bashing. Just information.

An 18 November final ruling that Garmin was violating Johnson Outdoors' patent on side imaging sonar was followed up this week with a ruling that Garmin was violating Navico patents on down imaging. This second ruling was a reversal of an earlier finding.

Whether this will be resolved through licensing or whether Garmin will be forced to pull products from the market is still up in the air. Garmin says they have redesigned their units to get around the Johnson Outdoors patent and that they plan similar action for the Navico patent.

Federal agency rules Garmin violated Navico patents | Trade Only Today

Johnson Outdoors and Humminbird(R) Receive Favorable ITC Ruling Against Garmin Nasdaq:JOUT


Things that we as fishermen should watch for IMO:

New Garmin products may or may not have the same features or performance as previous products. No way to know until we see them in action.

Firmware/Software updates to existing products MAY remove functionality that was originally part of the unit. There is a history of this happening when a Lowrance update removed the ability for the unit to boot into the same setup it was in when it was shut down after a court case. I'd recommend you not be the first to update your units. let somebody else be the guinea pig.


Mixed feelings for me on this. As an engineer, I want people to be able to profit from their good ideas without having them poached by others. As a fisherman, I like high performance electronics at lower prices that we get from competition.