UPDATE 2-Online measurement rivals battle over patents
* comScore counter sues Nielsen over patent violation
* Nielsen sued comScore earlier for patent infringement
* Both sides seeking unspecified damages
(Adds Nielsen comment)
NEW YORK, March 22 (Reuters) – Two of the biggest online
measurement companies are locked in a battle over alleged
patent infringement.
ComScore (SCOR.O: Quote, Profile, Research) filed a counter suit against Nielsen
Holdings (NLSN.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and its Netratings division in a United
States District Court alleging infringement of patent rights,
comScore revealed in a regulatory filing on on Tuesday.
Nielsen is claiming that comScore violated its patent
rights and filed a lawsuit on March 16 in a U.S. District
Court.
Both companies are seeking unspecified damages and
injunctive relief.
“While we support vigorous competition in the marketplace,
that competition must be fair and respect intellectual property
rights,” Nielsen said in a statement. “Nielsen does not take
such matters lightly and only after thorough analysis and
consideration did we file this action. We look forward to a
fair and appropriate resolution.”
A representative from comScore was not immediately
available for comment.
In the government filing, comScore said it “intends to
vigorously protect its intellectual property and defend
itself.”
ComScore and Nielsen’s Netratings are the dominant online
measurement sources that track the number of people and the
amount of time they spend on some of the world’s most popular
websites such as Walt Disney’s (DIS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) ESPN.com, Yahoo (YHOO.O: Quote, Profile, Research)
and Google (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research).
Their findings, considered the currency of Internet
advertising, are used to set ad rates based on the number of
people visiting a website.
(Reporting by Jennifer Saba; Editing by Gary Hill and Carol
Bishopric)
UPDATE 2-Online measurement rivals battle over patents
Category: Business News
