According to a report on FierceWireless.com, LightSquared has made some progress on settlement talks on the litigation between them and Trimble and Deere
However, Lightsquard and Garmin are still at an impasse, suggesting that the road ahead to a policy agreement with the GPS industry will not be an easy one for LightSquared.
"All four firms were in U.S. District Court last week in New York City to present the status of their discussions. The settlement talks come as LightSquared has submitted to the FCC its testing plans designed to determine where interference may occur between LightSquared's L-band spectrum and GPS receivers and how it can be resolved. However, a GPS industry group has indicated it does not consider the tests legitimate and is going to work with the U.S. Department of Transportation on separate tests.
"At the hearing last week, a lawyer representing LightSquared, K. Winn Allen from the firm Kirkland & Ellis, said that over the past several weeks LightSquared had 'worked hard' on settlement talks with all three GPS companies, according to a transcript of the Sept. 8 hearing. He said LightSquared and Trimble 'have made progress in discussing a cooperative approach to resolution of the issues before the Court and the FCC as part of the process for resolution of the underlying technical and policy issues at stake.'
"However, he said that given the nature of the claims in the case, the FCC and other government agencies are going to need to be involved for any final resolution.
"Jonathan Shaw, a lawyer for Trimble from Boies, Schiller & Flexner, agreed with Allen's assessment and said the companies are working together. 'Hopefully we'll be able to reach some resolution that will satisfy all the various stakeholders, but it's going to take ultimately FCC action and input from those stakeholders,' he said."
