IBM asks court to treble patent damages for Priceline ‘infringement’
Technology and consulting multinational IBM has sued The Priceline Group, which manages travel websites such as priceline.com, for allegedly infringing four patents, two of which are more than 15 years old.
In a complaint filed on Monday (February 9) at the US District Court for the District of Delaware, IBM asked the court to rule that Priceline has infringed the patents and order it to pay damages and legal fees.
IBM said that due to the wilful and continued infringement by Priceline, any damages award should be increased by up to three times.
According to the complaint, Priceline is a well-known company that connects consumers looking to make [discounted] travel reservations with providers of those services.
The patents asserted include two that were issued in the late 1990s: US patents 5,796,967 and 5,961,601. The ‘967 patent tracks previous conversations online between a web user and a merchant, and the ‘601 patent covers technology related to web performance.
IBM also accused Priceline of infringing US patent 7,072,849, issued in 2006, which covers technology related to online advertising. The company has also asserted US patent 7,631,346, which covers technology making it easier for web users to connect to an internet provider.
In its complaint, IBM said it had sent Priceline a letter in October 2011 notifying the company that it was infringing the patents, but that this went unanswered.
In its complaint, IBM added that group, which also operates several other travel related websites, has made “billions of dollars” in revenue every year, although it did not specify the time period.
Despite this success, IBM claimed: “Rather than build its business on its own technologies, Priceline has appropriated the inventions of the patents-in-suit. Websites under Priceline’s control, including at least www.priceline.com, www.kayak.com and www.opentable.com, use the technology claimed by the patents-in-suit.”
Neither IBM nor Priceline responded to a request for comment.
Earlier this year, WIPR reported that IBM had topped the list of recipients of US patents for the 22nd year in a row, having been granted 7,534 patents in 2014, compared with 6,809 in 2013. According to patent data company IFI Claims Patent Services, which collated the figures, it is the first time a company has broken the 7,000 barrier.
