Amazon sued by MasterObjects over instant search software
updated 03:10 pm EST, Thu March 10, 2011
MasterObjects sues Amazon for patents in search
Amazon.com has been sued for allegedly infringing on a patent in its instant search suggestions. The plaintiff is MasterObjects, which offers Ajax and Flash-based software that automatically posts search suggestions before users even finish typing their queries. Amazon uses such a function in its browser, add-ons and toolbars, as well as mobile apps.
The formal complaint was lodged and has to do with a patent filed back in August of 2001. The description of the patent could easily cover other store sites and search engines such as eBay, Apple's App Store, Google and Bing, among others. As such, it's not clear why Amazon was picked out from among this group. [via TechCrunch]
