Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Amazon.com, IBM Settle Patent Lawsuits

Online retailer Amazon.com and technology heavyweight IBM announced Tuesday that they have settled the patent lawsuits existing between them. According to the terms of their settlement, Amazon will pay an undisclosed amount of money to IBM. The companies also signed a long-term patent cross-license agreement, a deal that seems to have left both pleased. Scott Hayden, Amazon's vice president of intellectual property, called IBM's patent portfolio the industry’s "largest and strongest." Dan Cerutti, IBM’s general manager of software intellectual property, said his firm was happy the situation had been resolved through negotiation and looked forward "to a more productive relationship" with the Seattle-based Amazon. IBM filed the patent lawsuits against Amazon in October of last year, over a number of patents covering interactive services, order of items using an electronic catalog, and ranking of hyperlinks. IBM is the largest holder of patents in the U.S. and worldwide.