4 March, 2016, USA: Daily deal website operator, Groupon was in the move to raise funding but eventually ended up in a lawsuit filed by International Business Machines Corp. IBM has alleged Groupon for infringement of pattern.
As per the complaint filed at US District Court for the District of Delaware, IBM has accused the startup for copying its patent and building its business model on that. The complaint further stated that despite of several warnings, Groupon continued its operations on the same patent without any authorization. “Despite IBM’s repeated attempts to negotiate, Groupon refuses to take a license but continues to use IBM’s property,” IBM lawyers write.
The plaintiff IBM further accuses Groupon to have continued to willfully infringe its patents, obtaining significant benefits without paying any compensations to IBM. IBM filed a lawsuit against Priceline Group Inc last year, accusing it of infringing four IBM patents in running its travel and dining websites, reports Reuters.
Speaking about the issue, IBM Spokesperson revealed, “Over the past three years, IBM has attempted to conclude a fair and reasonable patent license agreement with Groupon. Our intent is to reach a fair conclusion under which Groupon acknowledges its obligation and compensates IBM for the use of IBM’s patented technology.”
Image- fastcompany.net
