Who developed GPS technology? Attorneys battle it out in court today

By NIKKI WALLER, MiamiHerald.com

Florida attorney Willie Gary takes on Motorola in Broward Circuit Court today in a potential $1 billion lawsuit over who developed tracking and radio technology that taps into GPS, a tracking system used to monitor vehicles and objects via satellite.

Gary represents SPS Technologies, a now-defunct Fort Lauderdale firm whose owners claim they spent six years developing the technology. They say they had hoped it could be used in Latin America to curb commercial vehicle thefts and hijackings.

Motorola formed a joint venture with SPS in early 2000, giving the company $5 million and paying for the company's offices and employee salaries.

The suit alleges Motorola ended the joint venture in September 2000, once it realized how valuable the technology would become. The suit also alleges that Motorola brought the development of the GPS-based application in-house, essentially stealing SPS' work and forcing the company to close.

Motorola denies it illegally appropriated the technology.

Jury selection begins today in the trial, which is expected to last about a month.