IBM settles lawsuit against Rakuten over e-commerce patents

Groupon

17/06/2024 23:20

By Blake Brittain
       June 17 (Reuters) - International Business Machines Corp
 IBM.N  has settled a lawsuit accusing Japan's Rakuten  4755.T 
of infringing IBM patents related to e-commerce technology,
Delaware federal court records showed on Monday.
    U.S. District Judge Gregory Williams said in an oral order
that he was "pleased to hear that the parties have reached an
agreement to settle this case," according to an entry on the
court's docket. 
    Spokespeople for IBM and Rakuten did not immediately respond
to requests for comment and more information about the
settlement.
    The case had been set to go to trial June 24.
    Armonk, New York-based IBM sued Rakuten in 2021, alleging
that technology on Rakuten's shopping website and mobile apps
for providing cash-back offers infringed its patents. According
to the complaint, IBM tried to negotiate a license with Rakuten
for nearly six years without success.
    Rakuten denied the allegations and argued that the patents
were invalid.
    IBM won an $83 million jury verdict against Groupon  GRPN.O 
in a separate case in 2018 for infringing some of the same
patents. Groupon later paid IBM $57 million to settle the case.
    IBM dropped a related lawsuit against pet-food seller Chewy
in March.
    The case is International Business Machines Corp v. Rakuten
Inc, U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, No.
1:21-cv-00461.
    For IBM: John Desmarais, Karim Oussayef, Lindsey Miller,
Kerri-Ann Limbeek and Michael Rhodes of Desmarais
    For Rakuten: Joshua Raskin, Julie Bookbinder and Benjamin
Schladweiler of Greenberg Traurig
    
    Read more:
    IBM sues Rakuten for allegedly infringing e-commerce patents