IBM and Amazon have settled a two-way patent dispute dating from 2002 when IBM informed Amazon in 2002 that it believed that the company’s web retail operation infringed some of its patents. They have agreed to cross-licence each otherÂs technologies by Amazon paying an undisclosed sum to IBM.
When filing the law suits, IBM said that the technology behind its patents dated back to 1990 in some cases. It said that it had tried for four years to negotiate licensing deals, but that those negotiations had been fruitless. Amazon fought back, filing a counter-suit claiming that in fact it was IBM which was infringing patents it held.
An Amazon spokeswoman told The New York Times that the deal would have no material impact on the web retailer’s results. The sum to be paid has already been factored into its guidance to analysts and investors for its second quarter and annual results, said the spokeswoman.
