Internet Flight Planning Patent Fallout Begins

Editorial Staff

Monday, December 13, 2010 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

FlightPrep successfully patented online flight planning, leading to a patent infringement lawsuit against RunwayFinder.
RunwayFinder announced its shutdown due to the lawsuit filed by FlightPrep concerning the online flight planning patent.
FlightPrep's general manager expressed the company's intent to collaborate with the General Aviation (GA) community to navigate the implications of their patent.

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When we first heard of FlightPrep’s successful patent of online flight planning a year ago, we figured it would eventually be big news. It’s now gathering some interest, and on Tuesday RunwayFinder announced it was shutting down its site because of a patent infringement lawsuit filed by FlightPrep. AVweb‘s Russ Niles spoke with FlightPrep general manager Ross Neher on Monday, before RunwayFinder pulled the pin, about how his company hopes to work with the GA community to make this uncharted (sorry) territory navigable.

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