Lightsquared Suing Deere, Garmin, Trimble & GPS Industry Groups

The New York Times reports that hedge fund billionaire Philip A. Falcone is in a litigious mood. Just three days after suing Dish Network’s Charles W. Ergen and another hedge fund in a last-ditch attempt to maintain control of LightSquared, the bankrupt wireless broadband company he owns, Mr. Falcone has turned his focus on the GPS industry.

Falcone’s hedge fund, Harbinger Capital, and its subsidiaries sued Deere & Company, Garmin International and Trimble Navigation, along with the Coalition to Save Our GPS and the United States GPS Industry Council, accusing them of preventing LightSquared from operating a crucial 4G network.

The lawsuit which seeks $1.9 billion in damages, contends that lobbying from the GPS industry, and the resulting FCC decision to deny LightSquared a license helped to precipitate LightSquared’s bankruptcy in May 2012.

LightSquared has been battling the GPS industry, which argues that LightSquared’s network transmitters would interfere with other GPS equipment using the same band of spectrum. It is not the first time that LightSquared has publicly lashed out at the GPS industry. Last year, before the FCC blocked the operating license, LightSquared executives accused the industry of manipulating crucial tests that produced negative results.

Trimble Navigation called the lawsuit “lacking in merit.”

“The responsibility for Harbinger’s losses rests squarely with Harbinger,” Jim Kirkland, Trimble’s vice president and general counsel, said in a statement.

Not Named — the current legal action fails to mention one of Lightsquared’s most important opponents, the U.S. Defense Department, who also raised concerns in 2011 that LightSquared’s new terrestrial network had the potential to wreak havoc on GPS systems that are vital to the military and used in a host of applications. The military had conducted testing on LightSquared’s network in concert with the FAA, which involved more than 100 receivers from 24 different organizations, and spanned the military, government, aviation, precision, agriculture, automotive and general-use communities.

Test data indicated that LightSquared’s signals interfered with every type of receiver in the test.

The NY Times article says that representatives for Deere, Garmin and the two industry lobbying groups could not be reached for comment.