Chicago Tribune sued for patent infringement


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Posted by Bud on February 11, 2010 at 21:55:06:

Chicago Tribune sued for patent infringement over feature in job listings

By: Lorene Yue Feb. 11, 2010 (Crain's) — A Virginia advertising company has sued the Chicago Tribune, claiming that a feature of the newspaper's new job listings service infringes on a patent it has held for nearly a decade.

Internet Media Corp. of Warrenton, Va., filed its complaint Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

At issue is the Chicago Tribune's CareerBuilder QuickFind service, which launched on Jan. 22.

QuickFind links detailed, online job listings to a shortened numeric code that is published in the Chicago Tribune's jobs listings.

Internet Media Corp. claims Tribune’s QuickFind copies its JumpCode product, which allows companies to substitute a short numeric code for a lengthy URL.

Specifically, Internet Media Corp. claims Tribune is infringing on part of its "system for providing easy access to the World Wide Web utilizing a published list of preselected Internet locations together with their unique multi-digit jump codes."

The company says it warned Chicago Tribune of the patent infringement before filing its suit.

Chicago-based CareerBuilder.com is an online job listings service that is owned in part by Tribune Co., the parent of the Chicago Tribune.

A Chicago Tribune spokeswoman declined to comment. A lawyer for Internet Media Corp. also declined to comment beyond what was contained in the suit.

Internet Media wants a judge to order Tribune to stop using its QuickFind service as well as unspecified monetary damages for the alleged infringement.

Chances are, the case will never make its way through the court system, said Chris Renk, a partner at Banner & Witcoff Ltd. in Chicago.

"Ninety-eight percent of civil cases end up settling," Mr. Renk said. "(Patent infringement) cases are long, with the average time to get to trial about 24 to 30 months, and patent cases are very long to litigate."



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