IBM has sought $167 million from Groupon in a lawsuit accusing the e-commerce marketplace operator of using patented technology without authorization.
IBM lawyer John Desmarais told a jury in federal court in Delaware that Groupon infringed patents describing foundational e-commerce technology that had been licensed to Amazon, Facebook and Alphabet’s Google for between $20 million and $50 million per company.
The Armonk, New York-based company invests heavily in research and development and has secured more U.S. patents than any other company for the past 25 years, Reuters reported.
IBM sued Chicago-based Groupon in 2016, alleging infringement of four patents.
Two of the four patents at issue relate to Prodigy, a late-1980s forerunner to the internet, developed by IBM and others, that describe a system for showing applications and advertisements that reduces server loads.
IBM also said it patented single sign on technology that allows consumers to log in to a retailer’s website with their Facebook or Google account.
