Thursday, December 29, 2005

Google Sued for Patent Infringement

Google is being sued for patent infringement over the VoIP portion of Google Talk.

You can find the full text (38 pages pdf) of the complaint filed by Rates Technology in October here.A copy of the court docket is posted here.

The lawsuit was filed in the Eastern District of New York.The suit includes two causes of action for patent infringement against Google.Rates Technology says that two patents they hold (awarded in 1995, 2001) for minimizing the cost of long distance calls using the Internet are being infringed upon by Google Talk.

Copies of these two patents along with one more mentioned in the filing are included in the complaint.

Rates Technology is asking for a jury trial along with:

  • Enforcement of the patents
  • Damages including the loss of profits so provide a royalty
  • A preliminary injuction against Google
  • Attorney's fees

( source: blog.searchenginewatch.com )

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