Automatic messaging belongs to us

AOL, Amazon, Borders, Google, IAC, and Yahoo are being taken to court for violating a patent on automatic message routing.

The patent is held by Polaris IP, which did not invent the technology.

According to Information Week, the lawsuit claims that the companies ran systems that "comprise interpreting electronic messages with rule base and case base knowledge engines" as described in the patent held by the plaintiff, "Automatic message interpretation and routing system."

As part of the legal process, Polaris has asked for an injunction against continued infringement. In the unlikely event that it was granted it could probably bring the companies to their knees.

Dennis Crouch, associate professor of law at University of Missouri School of Law said that it seems that Polaris was in the business of licensing patent rights and has no desire to enforce its requested injunction.

It is probably just looking for a six or seven figure settlement to go away, he said. The message routing patent has been involved in litigation many times but the people sued have always settled out of court.

More here. µ