By Ben Fox Rubin
Vringo Inc. (VRNG) said it filed a patent suit against Microsoft
Corp. (MSFT), using the same two patents it utilized in a suit it
won against Google Inc. (GOOG) and others late last year.
Vringo, a mobile-technology and intellectual-property company,
had sued Google--the primary defendant--as well as AOL Inc. (AOL),
IAC/InterActiveCorp. (IACI) and others, alleging infringement of
two of its patents used to select and position advertising on
Internet-search results. It won about $30 million in damages and
was granted future royalties from the suit.
That case remains in its post-trial phase. Google has suggested
it will appeal, saying it would ultimately win the case.
In the new suit, Vringo alleged Microsoft had willfully
infringed the two patents with its search engine, Bing.com.
A Microsoft representative wasn't immediately available for
comment.
Vringo was founded in 2006 with a focus on mobile technology,
but last March it agreed to merge with privately held
Innovate/Protect, which now controls most of the company and
brought it into the intellectual property industry.
Innovate/Protect, which bought the two patents from Lycos along
with six others for $3.2 million, has alleged that the technology
it owns is widely used in the search industry.
Since the two patents were found valid and infringed in the
Google suit, Vringo had been expected to file additional suits
against other technology companies using those patents.
Vringo's shares were up 3.5% at $3.25. The stock is up 27% over
the past three months. Microsoft's shares were down three cents at
$27.82.
Write to Ben Fox Rubin at ben.rubin@dowjones.com
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