Suit Accuses Google of Infringing Patents

By BLOOMBERG NEWS
Published: December 31, 2005
Google, the Internet search engine, has been accused in a lawsuit of infringing a patent-licensing company's patents with its free Internet telephone system.

The plaintiff, Rates Technology, contends that Google Talk, a voice-over-Internet service, infringes patents issued in 1995 and 1996. One is for a device for routing telephone calls along "a least-cost route," and the other is for a system to update a database that stores billing rates so cheaper calls can be made.

The complaint says Google has been infringing the patent "within the past six years."

Rates Technology filed the suit in Federal District Court in Central Islip, N.Y., on Oct. 5. The suit was reported yesterday by The New York Post.

"R.T.I. has discussed with and given Google notice of its infringement, and has tried to resolve this matter without litigation, but Google has refused to do so," the complaint says. "Thus, Google has forced R.T.I. to file this lawsuit."

A conference on the case is set for Feb. 3, according to court records.

Lynn Fox, a spokeswoman for Google, did not immediately return calls seeking comment.