May 8, 2006 in the District Court in Tel Aviv, Israel. Answers Corporation, a US-based Internet company, filed suit in the amount of 1 Million IS (app. $215,000) for infringement of their patented computerized dictionaries application. Answers Corporation, a publicly traded company on the US NASDAQ exchange, claims ownership of the patent.
Answers.com provides information services, including information from encyclopedias, dictionaries and atlases. The services are provided in various languages.
In its statement of claim, Answers stated that it holds a patent for a method that allows translation or display of relevant data for texts selected by the reader on the screen. The invention is based on a method whereby identification of a word is made not only on the basis of the selected word itself, but also on the basis of the other words in the sentence. This yields a more precise translation, since the translation program does not consider translations that are out of context.
Answers is claiming that Babylon makes use of its invention, and provides translation services using its patented adjacent word technology. Answers stated that the invention is its intellectual property, and that no person has the right to steal it, damage it or use it in any way that detracts from its value.
Dov Peer, Babylon's CEO in response: "It is surprising that Answers did not contact us in advance of serving the lawsuit, and therefore I heard of their claims for the first time from the press. When we receive the statement of claim, we will respond accordingly. Babylon's products are its own originally developed products, and are protected by patents. Babylon has been operating in the translation industry since 1997. Dozens of websites offer translation services, and even more provide online services. "
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