By Stevie Smith Nov 12, 2007, 13:49 GMT
Reports are currently suggesting that Google Inc. is about to lock legal horns with Boston-based Northeastern University and start-up Jarg Corporation concerning search and retrieval technology incorporated into the world’s most popular Web search engine.
Google is facing a patent infringement lawsuit from Northeastern University and Jarg Corp. regarding contentious technology in its popular online search engine. Credit: TechFreep.com
According to a related Reuters report, legal papers were filed on November 06 in Marshall in the Eastern District of Texas, which is renowned as a court that looks favourably on plaintiffs during patent cases.
The patent infringement accusations in question come from Web tool developer Jarg Corp, which was founded by a professor from Northeastern University and claims to be the exclusive licensee of search-based technology that was patented a year before the appearance of Google’s search engine in 1998.
The president and co-founder of Jarg Corp., Michael Belanger, has outlined that the technology patent infringement first came to the attention of the company a number of years ago, but a lack of resources at that time led to a delay on the application of the suit until a law firm could be secured on a contingency-fee basis.
Attorneys from global law firm Vinson & Elkins (Texas), which are paying charges related to the case, are now representing Jarg Corp. with counsel assistance taken from both Marshall and Tyler.
With Northeastern University signing on to Jarg’s cause following the attainment of legal counsel, the patent infringement suit accuses Google of failing to seek legal clarification regarding a possible infringement of U.S. patent No. 5,694,593, which is also known as "Distributed Computer Database System and Method".
The plaintiffs are looking to obtain damages and royalties against Google as well as an injunction to prevent further infringement of the search patent, which was invented by Northeastern University’s Dr. Kenneth Baclawski – an associate professor of computer science.
Reuters reports that court documentation shows Baclawski, co-founder of Jarg Corp., first published his search and retrieval method technology for large, distributed databases back in 1994. While Jarg is taking Google to task regarding the supposed use of Baclawski’s patented technology, the Massachusetts-based company insists it is looking for due royalties on its IP (intellectual property) and not to bury Google Inc.
By way of response, a Google spokesperson has said that an initial investigation has revealed that the patent infringement suit is completely without merit.
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