Suing one or two companies is understandable. But 397? Just look at the list of entities sued[1]. It's ludicrous. It's desperate; they're making baseless accusations in the hope that one of them sticks.

I'm against software patents so I'm biased here, but the patent[2] is very restrictive anyway: "a software interface [that] organizes information predicated upon the geographical area of the resources about which the information is desired" (how many website have you used that show you a map?). That kind of patent doesn't encourage innovation. Far from it: it encourages the defensive measure of overly-patenting.

[1]: http://www.scribd.com/doc/49912651/11-03-01-GeoTag-Defendant... [2]: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sec...