Internet Giants Sued Over Patent

By The WHIR, August 31, 2007
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August 31, 2007 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- Patent-holder Polaris has sued some of the largest players on the Internet over what the company claims was a violation of its email patent.

Google, Yahoo!, Amazon, AOL, Borders and Ask.com owner IAC have been named in the suit. Polaris says its patent, US patent number 6,411,947, covers the automatic interpretation and answering or forwarding of an email message.

According to reports, the patent filing says that it covers a process to automatically interpret an electronic message by using a rule base and case base knowledge engine and classifying the electronic message as being able to be responded to automatically and requiring assistance from a human operator.

So far, Polaris' claim hasn't made specific allegations about how exactly the patent has been violated. The Eastern District of Texas, which is where the suit was filed, is reputed to be friendly to the interests of patent-holding litigants but some say the courts are beginning to take a more critical look of patent cases.

Tags: Amazon Ask.com Google Yahoo!