Google and Microsoft were sued for infringing a US company's patent with their map websites, which let users navigate street-level views of towns and cities.
Transcenic asked a Delaware District court to prevent Google and Microsoft from continuing to infringe its patent and asked the court to award it damages.
Lake Charles, Louisiana-based Transcenic said in court documents that Google's Streetview and Google Earth and Microsoft's Streetside infringe its technology which covers systems for capturing and navigating within panoramic images.
AOL and its MapQuest mapping website were also named as defendants for Mapquest's 360 View, which allows users to navigate through street-level images.
Google and Microsoft declined to comment. AOL did not return a call for comment.
The case is Transcenic Inc v Google Inc et al, U.S. District Court, District of Delaware, No. 11-582.
(Reporting by Tom Hals. Editing by Robert MacMillan)
Copyright Reuters. Click for restrictions.
A confirmation email has been sent to your email address - SUPPLIED GOES EMAIL HERE. Please click on the link in the email to verify your email address. You need to verify your email before you can start posting.
If you do not receive your confirmation email within the next few minutes, it may be because the email has been captured by a junk mail filter. Please ensure you add the domain @itnews.com.au to your white-listed senders.