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Company Claims Patent On Spam Filtering, Sues World

Posted by kdawson on from the guess-where dept.

EvilAlphonso notes news of a "Texas" IP holding company suing 36 actual companies for violating its claimed patent on spam filtering. Techdirt deconstructs the patent itself, No. 6,018,761, which seems to amount to little more than a database lookup. It was filed in 1996 and issued in 2000 (despite the lawyers' press release claiming that it "was awarded... nearly 15 years ago"). Among the companies being sued are 3Com, Apple, Google, AOL, Yahoo, J.C.Penney, IBM, Dell, Citigroup, and RIM. Not Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, or Microsoft, oddly enough.

1 of 186 comments (clear)

  1. More information on InNova Patent Licensing, LLC by merc · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    Not sure if they're actually located in Marshall, TX. I found this public record:

    INNOVA PATENT LICENSING, L.L.C.
    16055 SPACE CENTER BLVD STE 235
    HOUSTON, TX 77062-6212

    Taxpayer Number: 32042021249

    If anyone can get corporate officials' names and phone numbers that would be interesting.

    --
    It's true no man is an island, but if you take a bunch of dead guys and tie 'em together, they make a good raft.