Amazon Sues Discovery in Escalation of Patent Litigation

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 20, 2009 - 10:19am.

Seattle - Amazon.com (NASD: AMZN) has filed a number of patent infringement claims against Discovery Communications (NASD: DISCA), which itself sued Amazon two months ago for allegedly infringing on its own e-book-related patents.

While Discovery's claims related to e-books and Amazon's Kindle device, Amazon's lawsuit focuses on its patented "Internet-based customer referral system."

The company is seeking a declaration from the judge in the Discovery lawsuit that it does not violate the six Discovery patents in question, and unspecified damages in its suit alleging Discovery is infringing on four Amazon patents.

"Amazon.com continues to deny Discovery's allegations of wrongdoing and we will vigorously defend ourselves," spokesman Craig Berman told TechFlash.

"Discovery remains committed to protecting its intellectual property assets and we have continued confidence in the merits of our case," the company told TechFlash, in relation to its own lawsuit, adding "we are in the process of reviewing those and respond appropriately in due course," referencing Amazon's new claims.

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/ig18e (TechFlash)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124276550543636093.html

http://snipurl.com/ifvuy (Ars Technica)