by CIO Staff

IBM Hits Amazon.com With Patent Suits

News
Oct 23, 20061 min
IT Leadership

IBM is taking Amazon.com to court, alleging patent infringement against the e-commerce giant.

IBM announced on Monday that it hit Amazon.com with two lawsuits that seek unspecified damages. For four years, IBM attempted to clear up the matter before it decided to sue.

IBM alleges that Amazon.com knowingly exploits its intellectual property by infringing on several patents that cover, among other things: the presentation of applications in an interactive service, the storage of data in an interactive network, the presentation of advertising in an interactive service, and the ordering of items from an electronic catalog.

IBM filed the lawsuits separately in two district courts for the Eastern District of Texas—one in the Tyler Division and the other in the Lufkin Division.

IBM first notified Amazon.com about the alleged infringement in September 2002, but Amazon.com hasn’t wanted to engage in “meaningful discussions,” IBM said. Other companies license the patents in question, according to IBM.

Neither IBM nor Amazon.com immediately responded to requests seeking comment.

-Juan Carlos Perez, IDG News Service (Miami Bureau)

Related Links:

  • IBM Patent Filings to be Open

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