Could Microsoft be trying to acquire TomTom?

First, the Linux file system-related patents are, in a word, 'weak.' They may have survived PUBPAT's (Public Patent Foundation) attempt to knock the FAT (File Allocation Table) patents out a few years ago, but Microsoft just squeaked by. No one actually thought that Microsoft would actually try to sue anyone using those patents. It would have been just asking to be smashed as one patent-savvy attorney put it to me.

And, that was before the Bilski decision, which smashed the legal foundations of most business and software patents. So that's another reason for Microsoft to avoid suing with a weak set of software patents.

Besides, TomTom is a Dutch company. Does Microsoft really want to go to a European court with a sad patent case these days? With the European anti-trust division back on the hunt against them for bundling Internet Explorer!?

Last, but not least, Microsoft has, as Eben Moglen, Columbia University law professor and well known open-source law expert, pointed out to me, has been working on peaceful co-existence with open-source developers and companies lately. Heck, it was only weeks ago that Microsoft signed a partnership deal with Red Hat!

So, what the heck is Microsoft doing going into what looks like a difficult legal battle in Europe while re-alienating the open-source community?

Here's my theory. I don't have anything solid for it. But, after re-reading the legal documents and talking with some friends in the London Stock Exchange, I wonder if what Microsoft has been doing with TomTom for the last year hasn't been trying to get them to sign a patent-licensing agreement for petty-cash, but trying to get them to agree to be acquired.

Microsoft has long wanted to get into automobile embedded systems with their Windows Mobile operating system. Their attempts haven't gotten anywhere fast. The company would also like to get some traction into the suddenly hotter than hot location software business. Google, with its Latitude software, has shown that people are really interested in location-based programs.

Were Microsoft to acquire TomTom, they'd instantly solve those two problems. If they could get the merger done fast enough, they might even have a chance to drop the lawsuit and get open-source companies to forget that Microsoft is not now, never has been, and never will be, open-source's friend.

It's just a theory, but it does have one advantage: It explains an otherwise off-the-wall Microsoft lawsuit. Do you have any better explanation? I'd love to hear it if you do.