Longstanding rivals Google and Microsoft are uniting against a common enemy. The two technology and Internet giants are reportedly teaming up to take GeoTag to court after the geo-location technology provider mulled legal action against Bing and Google maps customers.

GeoTag invited the ire of Google and Microsoft for suing about 400 companies for violating a patent that it acquired a few years ago. The defendants also happened to include users of Google and Bing maps.

The patent that GeoTag acquired involves a method for featuring store information on a map. The patent, which seems to be the only asset of GeoTag, has reportedly exchanged several hands over the years.

By suing GeoTag, Microsoft and Google are trying to prevent GeoTag from suing customers of Bing Maps and Google Maps APIs on their websites. The companies are also challenging the patent arguing that it should never have been granted.

The patent in question is called Internet Organizer for Accessing Geographically and Topically Based Information. GeoTag website features information on the U.S. Patent 5,930,474.

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