IBM wins $83 million from Groupon in internet patent fight

(Reuters) - A U.S. jury on Friday awarded International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N) $83 million in a patent dispute with e-commerce company Groupon Inc (GRPN.O).

FILE PHOTO: The logo for IBM is displayed on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., June 27, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

A jury in Delaware said Groupon used IBM’s patented e-commerce technology without authorization following a two-week trial.

“IBM invests nearly $6 billion annually in research and development, producing innovations for society,” IBM spokesman Douglas Shelton said in a statement. “We rely on our patents to protect our innovations. We are pleased by the jury’s verdict.”

A Groupon spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The jury said Groupon’s infringement was willful, allowing IBM to ask a judge to award additional damages.

IBM had sought $167 million in damages, saying it developed widely licensed technology crucial to the development of the internet. Two of the patents relate to Prodigy, IBM’s late-1980s precursor to the web.

Groupon argued that some of IBM’s patents should not have been granted because they describe obvious ideas, and said the computing company’s damages request was unreasonable.

Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Editing by Richard Chang

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