A small New York technology firm said on Sunday that it was suing search titan Google for up to five billion dollars for patent violation in the Internet telephony software used in Google Talk.
Jerry Weinberger, chief executive of Rates Technology Inc (RTI), said he was the inventor of software programming that allows telephone calls to be placed over the Internet.
He said 120 companies, including Lucent, Cisco, IBM, Yahoo and Microsoft, have paid RTI to use the technology for "Voice over Internet Protocol" (VoIP) calls.
RTI filed suit in a Long Island federal court against Google two months ago because the search engine was using the technology without authorisation, Weinberger said after the New York Post reported the lawsuit on Sunday.
"They told us to go to hell," the RTI boss said. "They are the most arrogant company in the world."
Weinberger alleged that Google has abused two patented RTI software programs in Google Talk, which enables users to talk through a computer headset or to instant message each other for free.
He said Google could be liable for damages of up to five billion dollars in a trial, unless it settles the complaint out of court.
{{/usCountry}}He said Google could be liable for damages of up to five billion dollars in a trial, unless it settles the complaint out of court.
{{/usCountry}}Google did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
But a spokesman for the company quoted by the New York Post dismissed the lawsuit as "without merit" and said Google "will defend against it vigorously".