IBM Common Stock (NYSE:IBM) seeking $167 million from Groupon Inc Common Stock (NASDAQ:GRPN) after it filed a lawsuit accusing the later of using its patent technology without seeking authorization.

In his submission, John Desmarais, representing IBM, told the federal court in Delaware that Groupon had infringed on his client’s patent. Groupon has been accused of using e-commerce technology which had been licensed to Alphabet Inc Class C (NASDAQ:GOOG), Facebook, Inc. Common Stock (NASDAQ:FB) and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN).

Groupon says IBM has gone beyond the scope of its patent

However, in defense, J. David Hadden representing Groupon said that IBM had gone beyond the scope of its patent. Hadden said that IBM was claiming ownership of internet building blocks attached to the world wide web.

The trail is expected to last for weeks and among the evidence lined up is an IBM executive who will testify about licensing deals. The executive will shed light into IBM’s large portfolio from where the company draws much of its revenue.

IBM, which is based in Armonk, New York has heavilyt invested in research and development. The technology company has secured more patents than any other technology company in the last 25 years.

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Groupon had consistently failed to seek license for the patents

In 2016, IBM sued Groupon for fully infringing on its patents. The matter moved to court after  Groupon declined several attempts to have the two companies hold dissuasions so as to facilitate licensing of the technology.

At the center of this dispute are four patents. These include a 1980s patent which relates to Prodigy and the single sign-on technologies. Another patent gives the details on how to show ads and applications while reducing the level of strain on the servers.

In his presentation, Desmarais is a leading innovator and only issues licenses on reasonable terms. He noted that IBM was forced to sue after Groupon declined to negotiate a deal.

IBM released its earnings report for the first quarter of 2018 in April. The company reported $2.45 per share, which amounts to $19.1 billion.