It came from Performance Pricing that Google AdWords, AOL Search Marketplace, Microsoft adCenter, and Yahoo Search Marketing have violated its "competitive bidding" patent. This was what reported by the Information Week. A lawsuit was filed by Performance Pricing, last week against the four companies with a charge of infringing upon its patent – that says "Systems and methods for transacting business over a global communications network such as the Internet."

This uit was filed in the Eastern District of Texas. In a single month, this is the third time when Google has been sued for patent infringement. The same goes for the other companies.

According to the Coalition for Patent Fairness, there were some 218 infringement lawsuits filed in Marshall, Texas, within a very short period, from January 2004 to April 2006.

The date of hearing is not yet finalised.

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