Google Earth patent infringement suit dismissed

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A U.S. judge ruled that Google Inc.'s 3D modeling software, which gives Web users an astronaut's view of the earth and allows them to zoom down to street level, does not infringe the patent of a rival.

Judge Douglas Woodlock of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts in Boston denied a complaint by Skyline Software Systems Inc. that the Google Earth mapping software of Google's Keyhole Inc. infringed Skyline patents.

The judge also denied motions from both parties on whether the patents in question were valid, but left the possibility for either party to reassert these issues if they do so before April 20. He canceled a planned trial date set for June.

In his ruling, Woodlock held that Google's system does not attempt to render views of Earth's terrain, a key claim of the patent held by Skyline, which is based in Chantilly, Virginia, and offers its own "fly through" three-dimensional software.

Mountain View, California-based Google acquired Keyhole in October 2004 and renamed its flagship product Google Earth.