When I met with Eric a year or so ago, he said that Google had gotten to the size that draws lawsuits, and he expected his legal department, already robust, would have to get even bigger. He was right. Add another suit to the pile: Digital Envoy is suing Google for violation of a licensing agreement.
Details from CNET:
Several years ago, the two companies struck a licensing agreement allowing Google to use “geo-location” technology invented and developed by Digital Envoy, said Timothy Kratz, a lawyer with the firm of McGuireWoods. The technology uses the Internet Protocol (IP) address of a computer visiting a particular Web site to determine the nearest city in order to direct specific advertisements to the computer’s user.
The license allows Google to use that technology on its own site, but not on third-party sites, Kratz said. “If an advertiser is signed up under the massive AdWords program, and if its ad runs on (the Web site of) USA Today, then it’s a misappropriation of our technology.
Round up of search stories at CNET here.
This is certainly news as in 2002 Google paid $10,000 to Daniel Egnor for winning its programming contest. The winning entry, Geographic Search did exactly what Digital Envoy is complaining about.