
Google is one of the largest online companies, so it's obvious the search giant is attacked every day with new lawsuits that are meant to increase the popularity of the claimer. Other companies are looking to raise their budget with money coming directly from Google that is one of the richest firms in the entire world.
Some of the latest lawsuits against Google were filed in April by HyperPhrase, a Madison-based company with offices in Madison and Mequon, Wisconsin, saying the search
giant infringed its patent technology. The company also mentioned the two products that are using its solutions: AdSense - one of the most popular advertising programs on the internet, and AutoLink - a function included in the browser's toolbar that helps you link to useful information.
U.S. District Judge John Shabaz said that the search giant's technology does not infringe HyperPhrase's patents and decided to accept Google's demand to dismiss the claims.
"AutoLink performs a completely different function in a different way to achieve a different result. The product involves connecting two records which the AdSense statistically predicts hold a common interest for the reader. It has nothing whatever to do with a reference in one record to a second record," the judge said according to BusinessWeek.
It seems that this wasn't HyperPhrase's first attempt to increase popularity and to obtain money with lawsuits against the internet giants. In the year 2003, a federal judge dismissed another suit filed by the company that said Microsoft is using its patents for the Office XP suite, asking for $2 billion damages. This time, HyperPhrase requested "only" unspecified damages and Google to stop the technology.
Google's lawyer was very realistic and mentioned that it was an obvious attempt from HyperPhrase to obtain money from the search giant that was fortunately dismissed by a competent judge such as John Shabaz.