The University of Southern California recently sued Google (Google) in Texas federal court, accusing its Google Earth, Maps and Street View applications of infringing on the school's patent rights. USC said in a complaint filed on Monday that Google's mapping and navigation products infringe two patents related to technology that overlays two-dimensional images on three-dimensional models.
USC said in a statement that it is "seeking reasonable compensation for the university's important contributions in this area." A professor has developed technology that "changes the way digital maps around the world are experienced" by integrating two-dimensional images of places into navigable three-dimensional models, the school said. The University of Southern California argued that Google infringed its patent by providing users with the ability to explore three-dimensional landscapes, zoom between locations, and virtually navigate streets.
The indictment mentions that Google has known about this patented technology for many years and awarded a research award to the university and related professors in 2007 for the projects that led to these patents. The University of Southern California is seeking an unspecified amount of monetary damages and asking the court to prohibit Google from continuing to use its patented technology.
The case is "University of Southern California v. Google LLC", case number 1:25-cv-01734, and the court hearing the case is the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. The University of Southern California is represented by Timothy Yoo of Bird Marella Rhow Lincenberg Drooks & Nessim LLP. Google’s attorney has not yet been announced.