GraphOn Files Patent Infringment Lawsuit Against Google
The suit alleges that Google's Base, AdWords, Blogger, Sites and YouTube online services infringe the GraphOn patents. The suit, filed in United States District Court in the Eastern District of Texas, alleges infringement of U.S. Patents. 6,324,538, 6,850,940, 7,028,034 and 7,269,591 which GraphOn said represent its unique method of maintaining an automated and network-accessible database. The suit seeks permanent injunctive relief along with unspecified damages.
GraphOn has a history of filing suits against companies it believes are infringing on its patents. GraphOn previously had filed a lawsuit against AutoTrader.com in November 2005 claimining infringement on two of the same patents and another suit against Juniper Networks in August 2007 for infringement on some network security and firewall technology patents. Also, it filed a March 2008 suit against Classified Ventures LLC, IAC/InterActive Corp., Match.com LLC, Yahoo!, eHarmony.com and CareerBuilder. In January 2008, GraphON reached a license agreement with AutoTrader.com to end that legal dispute.
GraphOn obtained the four patents in question with Google, along with other intellectual property, patents and patent applications, when it acquired Network Engineering Software in February 2005, according to GraphOn.
"The number of patents now owned by GraphOn as a result of the NES acquisition has increased to twenty-three, a number that is expected to continue to increase as patent applications on file at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office mature into issued patents," said Robert Dilworth, CEO of GraphOn, in a statement. "Aggressively protecting the technology represented in these patents is an important part of maximizing their value to GraphOn."
Publicly-traded GraphOn reported $2.7 million in sales for the six-month period ended June 30, up from $2.4 million in the year-ago period.
The company lost $1.4 million in the first six months of 2008 (3 cents per share), compared to a $2.0 million loss (4 cents per share) in the year-ago period. GraphOn shares closed at 25 cents last Friday, Aug. 15.