Google Wins In Court Against Patent Troll That Sued Its Customers

Google Wins In Court Against Patent Troll That Sued Its Customers
A company called Beneficial Innovations has been constantly suing over patents that are related to online gaming and advertising since 2006. One of it’s favorite targets are media companies, but in 2011 it went overboard by filing  a major lawsuit against many major media companies. The lawsuit was the last batch in quite a long list of companies sued by Beneficial Innovations. Now the question is, how does Google come into all of this? Most of the companies on the list that were sued were users of Google’s Doubleclick and technology. In 2010, Google reached a settlement with Beneficial that included protection for the customers. Now Beneficial may have filed this major lawsuit, but Google was quick to step in and sued Beneficial for breach of contract. The case went to a jury, and Google came out victorious.

Google didn’t sue for damages, they only asked for $1.00 in nominal damages. What they wanted was to get out the idea and make it clear that Beneficial will no longer sue any more Doubleclick customers. This could have also sent a message to other “patent trolls” that are trying to go behind Google’s back after reaching a settlement, which it is not a good idea. It is not clear if the Google customers will have any relief. They all had reached settlements with Beneficial before Google took the case to court.

Most of the companies sued by Beneficial in the past have settled with them. Popular names like CNET, The Washington Post and The New York Times have all settled with Beneficial.

What this win for Google means is that it has a firm grip over all the customers and relations it keeps. No one can go behind Google’s back and try to commit any wrong doings. Beneficial Innovations first made a settlement with Google, then went ahead and tried to sue Google’s customers anyway. Google responded strictly and  boldly, hopefully sending a message to any other company that ever thinks about challenging Google. Google remains first class and always keeps an eye out for it’s customers. The court win was not surprising at all.