IBM sues Amazon over patents
October 24, 2006
Key aspects of Amazon.com Inc's retailing website are improperly built on technologies developed at IBM Corp, Big Blue alleged Monday in two lawsuits against Amazon.
Amazon is accused of infringing on five IBM patents, including technologies that govern how the site recommends products to customers, serves up advertising and stores data.
Some of the patents were first filed in the 1980s, including one titled 'Ordering Items Using an Electronic Catalog'.
"Given that time frame, these are very fundamental inventions for e-commerce and how to do it on the network," said John Kelly III, IBM's senior vice- president for intellectual property. "Much, if not all, of Amazon's business is built on top of this property."
Negotiating licensing deals
Hundreds of other companies have licensed the same patents, and IBM has tried to negotiate licensing deals with Amazon "over a dozen times since 2002," Kelly said. Amazon.com - which has bought a lot of hardware from Hewlett-Packard Company over the years but not IBM - has allegedly refused every time.
A call seeking comment from Seattle-based Amazon was not immediately returned Monday.
Armonk, New York-based IBM filed its two lawsuits in federal court in the Eastern District of Texas, one in Tyler and one in Lufkin. Texas has become a frequent site for patent cases because of a perception that certain districts there are more responsive to such claims....
Author: Gleaner Reporter
Source: Jamaica Gleaner
