After Years of Complaints, IBM Finally Sues Amazon For Patent Infringement

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I.B.M. Sues Amazon.com Over Patents [New York Times]

Summary: In a move IBM Senior VP for technology and intellectual property John E. Kelly III called "extremely rare" for his company, IBM filled suit in two eastern Texas courts against e-commerce portal Amazon.com. IBM contends Amazon has built its online retail business on technology developed by them without ever giving IBM its due. Since 2002, IBM has tried privately to get Amazon to compensate it for the use of its patented technology, but to no avail. The suits were filed in two federal courts in the Eastern District of Texas, in Tyler and Lufkin - courts known for handling patent suits quickly and for often awarding large settlements to plaintiffs according to Gregory P. Silberman, a patent lawyer at the firm of Kaye Scholer. The patent infringement claims apply to a wide range of e-commerce applications including software-based techniques for storing, retrieving and displaying information, for making buying recommendations and for handling online transactions. While the terms of the suits are undisclosed, it is believed Amazon's payout could be for hundreds of millions of dollars should they be found guilty of the charges. Amazon declined to comment.
Related links: Analysis of Amazon's 10-K • IBM's Newest Chess Match [Motley Fool] • IBM Takes On Amazon [Business Week]
Potentially impacted stocks and ETFs: International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), Amazon (AMZN)

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