A lawsuit filed on Thursday alleges Microsoft Corp has been infringing patents that allow Internet search engines to most effectively place advertisements.<\/p>\n
I\/P Engine Inc said in the suit filed in Manhattan federal court that Microsoft uses search technology based on inventions by two employees of I\/P Engine’s parent company, Vringo Inc.<\/p>\n
Microsoft uses the technology in systems that generate advertisements and associated links for users of the world’s largest software company’s search engine, Bing, the lawsuit said.<\/p>\n
Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for Vringo declined to comment.<\/p>\n
In November 2012, a Virginia jury awarded I\/P Engine approximately $30 million in damages after it found that companies including Google Inc and AOL Inc had infringed the same patents that are at issue in the Microsoft suit.<\/p>\n
Following I\/P Engine’s announcement of the verdict, however, its parent company’s stock slid by as much as 10 percent. The company had been seeking damages of at least $696 million.<\/p>\n
In the lawsuit filed Thursday, I\/P Engine claimed that Microsoft has willfully infringed its patents. I\/P Engine said that one of its patents was referenced by the U.S. Patent and Trade Office in 2003 when the agency rejected a similar Microsoft patent application.<\/p>\n
In patent cases, a party can win higher damages if infringement is found to be willful.<\/p>\n
Vringo shares were last up 10 cents, or 3.2 percent, at $3.24 in midday trade on the American Stock Exchange.<\/p>\n
Microsoft shares were down 30 cents, or 1.1 percent, at $27.55 on the Nasdaq.<\/p>\n
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