IBM says that Amazon.com's system is built on technology
patented by it as long ago as 1990. The company says that it has
tried to negotiate licensing deals with Amazon.com over a four-year
period, but that Amazon.com rejected its attempts license the
technology to it.
"Dating back to September 2002, IBM has notified Amazon.com
numerous times of the infringement, but Amazon.com has shown no
willingness to have meaningful discussions," said an IBM
statement.
"We filed this case for a very simple reason. IBM's property is
being knowingly and unfairly exploited," said Dr John Kelly, senior
vice president of IBM Technology and Intellectual Property. "IBM is
one of the world's leading creators of intellectual property.
Everything we do is premised on the fundamental principle that
IBM's intellectual property is one of our core assets, and
represents the work product of tens of thousands of scientists and
engineers and billions of dollars of investment."
Five IBM patents are in dispute, and they cover technology for
"ordering items using an electronic catalogue", "storing data in an
interactive network", and "presenting advertising in an interactive
service", amongst other things.
IBM applies for more patents per year in the US than any other
company, spending $6 billion a year on research and development and
earning $1 billion a year in patent royalties.
IBM said that it would be seeking damages but did not specify
how much. “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,” said Kelly.
"We believe that Amazon's entire business model is built upon
these patents and that damages could be substantial," IBM spokesman
Scott Brooks told the Reuters news agency.
