Google Talk Faces Patent Infringement Lawsuit

5:45 am on December 30, 2005 | Category: Business, Law, Messaging, VoIP

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A patent holding company called Rates Technology Inc. (RTI) has just launched a lawsuit against Google and its popular internet VoIP service, Google Talk.

RTI claims that Google Talk violates two of their patents, dating back to 1991 and 1995, which relate to cost-cutting internet calling technology. If the court action is successful, the world’s largest search engine will be forced to pay damages, and stop using the technology behind the Google Talk service.

Google’s recent purchase of a 5% stake in AOL, however, may save them from having to shut down the service altogether. This is due to the fact that they will likely be able to license the technology from AOL’s own recently launched VoIP service.

But Google is still likely to fight this infringement case tooth and nail, in order to keep the rights to their own highly sophisticated technology. In the mean time, they have a little over a month to plan a defense strategy, before the first court hearing on February 3rd.

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    Published by TeleClick Enterprises
    Edited by Jeremy Maddock