Google has described a A$6.25 billion dollar lawsuite as being without merit.
The comment comes after Rates Technology, a little-known patent-holding company with a history of filing suits against large technology companies, said it will seek A$6.25 billion in damages from Google based on unpaid royalties from a patent infringement lawsuit RTI filed against Google in New York.RTI is suing Google in U.S. District Court in New York’s Eastern District for infringement of patent 5,425,085, which governs the routing of VoIP calls in Google Talk, a VoIP and instant-messaging application. Very little is known about RTI outside of its various lawsuits. There are few records of the company’s involvement in VoIP technology or services.
RTI,of New York is also suing Google based on another patent, 5,519,769, which relates to inventions for minimizing the cost of telephone calls. The company is seeking an injunction against Google for all commercial activity pertaining to Google Talk. “We believe the lawsuit is without merit and we will defend against it vigorously,” said Google spokesman Steve Langdon.
In the past two years several companies, including network equipment suppliers, software developers, and application services companies, have added VoIP capabilities. So basic is RTI’s VoIP-routing patent that hundreds of companies could be subject to legal action from RTI. RTI reportedly has patent infringement lawsuits pending with Lucent Technologies, Microsoft, Mitel, Cablevision Systems, Alcatel, Vonage Holdings, and Avaya. Other companies reported to be on RTI’s target list include Cisco Systems, Nortel Networks, and Huawei.
Mitel Networks was reportedly sued for $945 million, while Alcatel was sued for $1.15 billion. Both cases are pending. RTI is also reportedly in discussions with eBay about Skype’s alleged infringement of RTI’s patents.Very little is known about RTI outside of its various lawsuits. There are few records of the company’s involvement in VoIP technology or services. Companies with the sole purpose of purchasing and suing over patents have emerged, which has prompted calls in some circles for patent reform.But obtaining a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and getting a court to say the patent is enforceable are very different things.
