Friday December 17, 10:06 am Eastern Time
Two MIT profs file patent suit against Ask Jeeves
BOSTON, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Two professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have sued on-line search service Ask Jeeves Inc. (NasdaqNM:ASKJ - news), claiming the site infringes on two patents it holds in natural language question-and-answer technology, the Boston Herald reported on Friday.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Boston, claims Ask Jeeves is illegally using two patents developed by MIT professors Patrick Winston and Boris Katz, the Herald said.
The professors, who could not be immediately reached for comment, asked the court to stop Ask Jeeves from using or passing along the technology, and seeks damages and payment for royalties they said they should have received, the Herald said.
Ask Jeeves, based in Emeryville, Calif., could not be immediately reached for comment.
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