Mobile platform developer SK Planet said Monday that it has sued Loc & All, a mobile navigation service firm and subsidiary of mobile messenger operator Kakao, for unauthorized use of its mobile map database.

The company -- which runs mobile navigation app T-Map and compiles and provides a digital map database for corporate customers -- announced it has filed a lawsuit at the Seoul Central District Court.
 

SK Planet had opened up some of its T-Map mobile map services to the public in 2011 to allow ventures to utilize the database and to nurture the mobile navigation industry, according to the company.

Loc & All legally used the T-Map services from January 2011 to August 2014 under a contract between SK Planet and the Kakao subsidiary -- the top two players in the domestic mobile navigation industry.

SK Planet said the deal, which was inked at a very low price at the time, gave Loc & All access to its map database, including background map information, road network data for finding the best travel routes, and point of interest information.

After the contract ended in August 2014, the T-Map operator gave its then-partner two grace periods of around 13 months to drop all its data from the Kimgisa app.

SK Planet claimed a number of digital watermarks -- markers embedded in software to identify the ownership of services -- were found on the app even after the end of the grace periods.

“We had to file a complaint since Loc & All has refused several requests to eliminate T-Map data from its mobile app,” said an SK Planet official, adding the company would try to avoid applying for an injunction, which would inconvenience users of Kimgisa.

The mobile platform developer requested in its complaint that the Kakao subsidiary pay 500 million won ($439,000) as compensation and inform the Kimgisa app users about the use of SK Planet’s T-Map data.

Loc & All, which was acquired by Kakao in May this year, claimed it had already deleted all the data provided by SK Planet during the contract period, but would review the case when it is notified by the court.

By Kim Young-won  (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)