Amazon accused of violating patents
- Added:
- Jul 21, 2003
In a suit filed late last week, Pinpoint claims that Amazon violated its personalisation technology patents that recommend specific content to users based on their past behaviour.
The suit also names some of Amazon's retail partners, including Borders Group, Target and Toys R Us, which use Amazon technology to power their online stores.
While Amazon has sued several other companies for allegedly violating its own business method patents, including a suit against Barnes&Noble.com involving its patented 1-Click technology in 1999, this is the first time it has found itself on the receiving end of a patent suit.
Separately, Amazon is reportedly working with several large book publishers to develop an expansive online archive that would let users search the texts of tens of thousands of books.
The company is planning to build a program, called Look Inside the Book II, through which browsers could pull up a list of books mentioning certain search words or terms. According to a report in the New York Times, Amazon would require users to register, and it plans to limit the amount of any single book a customer can view.
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