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[Neon]

After the lawsuits against Google's Print and library program, Google Inc. seems to be in another legal web. This time an American company Rates Technology Inc. alleges that Google Talk's billing of calls made over the Internet is illegal and a patent infringement.

Google Talk is an application that marries Voice over Internet Protocol with IM. The Hauppauge-based Rates Technology in its October suit filed in a federal court in New York questions Google's rights in billing people for a technology that it does not own. The case last heard on 6th December by U.S. District Judge E. Thomas Boyle has few if any details made available from the official channels.

However, Google has issued a statement on Wednesday that read: "We believe the lawsuit is without merit and we will defend against it vigorously". The case was first reported in the Internet site of Search Engine Watch. But as in most patent-related suits, Rates Technology is a relatively unknown company hauling to court a more known Google Inc. With the case being against a registered patent, the motivation may really be the possibility of collecting huge royalties.

According to the lawsuit, Rates Technology holds a 1995 and 2001 patent for reducing the cost of long distance telephonic charges via the Internet, which Google Talk believably infringes. The complainant is seeking besides a jury trial, the enforcement of its patent rights, the claim of damages arising from its legal expenses and losses (of profits and royalties) and a preliminary. It also appears that Rates Technology was also involved in a similar legal spat with Nortel and Sharp Electronics in the past, all involving the patents held by it.