Business

IBM accuses Groupon of patent infringement

Big Blue is taking Groupon to court over the alleged infringement of technology used to run its websites.

Written by Charlie Osborne, Contributing Writer March 3, 2016 at 2:47 a.m. PT

IBM has filed a complaint against daily deals operator Groupon for allegedly infringing patents used within its online domains.

According to a complaint filed at the US District Court for the District of Delaware, Groupon has wilfully infringed upon patents belonging to the tech giant and has continually refused to enter discussions to license technology belonging to IBM.

As reported by Reuters, the Chicago, Illinois-based deals finder is accused of building a business model based upon IBM's intellectual property.

IBM's complaint reads:

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"Groupon has refused to engage in any meaningful discussions about reaching a license agreement to end its infringement of IBM's patents."

IBM is suing for damages based upon the idea that Groupon is running a successful business and has not paid any license fees or compensation which IBM believes is due to the company because of these patents.

"Groupon has continued to wilfully infringe IBM's patents so as to obtain the significant benefits of IBM's innovations without paying any compensation to IBM," the tech giant says.

In 2013, Twitter agreed to pay $36 million to settle a complaint filed against the microblogging platform and license a total of 900 patents ahead of the firm's initial public offering (IPO).

Last year, IBM filed lawsuits against Priceline, Kayak and OpenTable accusing all of the companies of infringing upon intellectual property. The case against Priceline was similar to Groupon's case, as IBM said the firm also created a business model based on patents belonging to the company.