IBM hits Zillow with another patent suit
In its second suit filed against Zillow, IBM has accused the real estate database company of escalating its infringing behaviour.
Last week, IBM accused Zillow of wilfully infringing five patents to build its real estate search engine in a suit filed at the US District Court for the Western District of Washington.
Back in September last year, IBM accused Zillow of wilfully infringing seven patents, after Zillow allegedly refused to negotiate a licence and end its unauthorised use of IBM’s IP “after more than three years of unproductive discussions”.
In that suit, IBM said it was seeking royalties on the “billions of dollars in revenue that Zillow has received based on their infringement of IBM’s patented technology”.
Now, Zillow is reportedly infringing five additional patents, which cover technology that improves graphical user interfaces for customer self-service search systems and customisable portal pages.
IBM said it had sent a letter to Zillow, informing the company of its infringement, but Zillow dismissed IBM’s letter as a “distraction” and “refused to discuss or ‘acknowledge the receipt’ of evidence showing Zillow’s infringement of any patents outside of litigation”.
“Again, IBM urged Zillow to reconsider its policy of willful blindness. True to its word, Zillow refused to respond to (or even acknowledge) that evidence of additional infringement. Zillow has given IBM no option but to litigate,” said the latest suit.
IBM is seeking injunctive relief against Zillow and damages.
When approached by WIPR, an IBM spokesperson said: "IBM invests more than $5bn annually in research and development, and relies on its patents to protect that investment. This is the second lawsuit IBM has had to bring to address Zillow's continuing unauthorised use and infringement of IBM IP."
The tech company is no stranger to suing to protect its IP. In April last year, IBM took travel tech company Expedia to court, alleging infringement of three patents related to technology that improves graphical user interfaces. Two of these patents are also allegedly being infringed by Zillow.
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