IBM Sues Amazon for Patent Infringement

Claiming it had come to an impasse in negotiations with the Web retailer, IBM said Monday it had filed two patent infringement suits against Amazon.com for unspecified damages. The company said it had attempted to reach a settlement with Amazon for the past four years.

"We filed this case for a very simple reason. IBM's property is being knowingly and unfairly exploited," IBM intellectual property chief Dr. John Kelly said. The suits were filed in two Texas district courts.

Amazon is accused of infringing on five patents: one involving the presentation of applications in an interactive service; the storage of data in an interactive network; the presentation of advertising in an interactive service; the adjustment of links with weighted user goals and activities; and the ordering of items using an electronic catalogue.

"When someone takes our property, without our permission through a license, we have no option but to protect it through every means available to us," Kelly said. IBM claims it has notified Amazon "numerous" times since it first alerted them to possible infringement in 2002.

IBM says it holds more than 40,000 patents worldwide. It says it has a long history of licensing its e-commerce patents with a variety of companies on fair terms. The five patents Amazon is accused of infringing upon have already been licensed to other large retailers.

A request for comment from Amazon was outstanding as of press time.