[A2k] Google, Yahoo! and Amazon sued over email patent

[Michelle Childs]

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[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/29/
google_yahoo_amazon_sued_ove_email_patents/
Google, Yahoo! and Amazon sued over email patent
Polaris missile
By OUT-LAW.COM =E2=86=92 More by this author
Published Wednesday 29th August 2007 23:51 GMT
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The biggest names on the internet have been sued by a patent holding
company which claims the firms are violating its rights by
automatically routing email messages.

Google, Amazon, Borders, Yahoo!, AOL and Ask.com owner IAC have been
named in the suit, filed by Polaris in the famously patent owner-
friendly jurisdiction of the Eastern District of Texas.

The patent in question, US patent number 6,411,947, covers the
automatic interpretation and answering or forwarding of an email
message.

The patent filing says that it covers: "a method for automatically
interpreting an electronic message, including the steps of (a)
receiving the electronic message from a source; (b) interpreting the
electronic message using a rule base and case base knowledge engine;
and (c) classifying the electronic message as at least one of (i)
being able to be responded to automatically; and (ii) requiring
assistance from a human operator."

"The method for automatically interpreting an electronic message may
also include the step of retrieving one or more predetermined
responses corresponding to the interpretation of the electronic
message from a repository for automatic delivery to the source," it
said.

Polaris's claim does not make specific allegations about exactly how
the patent is violated. It says of Google, for example, that it
violates the patent by operating "methods and systems...implementing
various websites (including, but not limited to www.google.com) that
comprise interpreting electronic messages with rule base and case
base knowledge engines as covered by one or more claims of the =E2=80=98947
Patent. Defendant Google is thus liable for infringement of the =E2=80=9894=
7
Patent".

The Eastern District of Texas is renowned as a court friendly to the
interests of patent-holding litigants. According to some observers,
though, the courts there are beginning to take a more critical view
of patent cases.

     * The lawsuit (11-page / 51KB PDF) (go to link above for links
to these docs)

     * The patent claims

Copyright =C2=A9 2007, OUT-LAW.com

OUT-LAW.COM is part of international law firm Pinsent Masons.

Michelle Childs
Head of European Affairs
Knowledge Ecology International
michelle.childs@cptech.org