• AT&T in June filed suit against Microsoft, claiming the
software giant infringed on its patent for a technology that allows high-speed
transmission of telephone calls and video over the Internet.
• E-Data, a small New Jersey-based company, since 1996 has been battling
software makers Intuit, Broderbund, AOL Time Warner and others, alleging
that it owns a patent that controls Internet software downloads.
• Xerox sued Palm in 1997, claiming that it patented the handwriting-recognition
technology that Palm uses in its handheld devices.
• Unisys last year pushed the major portals to license GIF patent, for
a ubiquitous image file used on the Internet.
• Symantec notified its rivals in February that it owns a pair of patents
that control its methods for updating virus software. The Symantec patents,
for "Multi-tiered Incremental Software Updating" and "Backtracked Incremental
Updating," allow data that is frequently updated to be efficiently patched.
• Amazon.com and Barnes&Noble.com have been tussling since 1999
over Amazon's 1-Click technology, a feature that allows returning customers
to purchase items by simply pressing a single button without the need to
re-enter billing and mailing information. Apple recently licensed the technology
from Amazon.
• Intouch Group, a digital music company in Berkeley, Calif., last year
sued Amazon, AOL Time Warner's Entertaindom, Liquid Audio and others, alleging
that they infringed on its patent for downloadable and streaming music.
