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Amazon sued over Web site feature

By Bloomberg News

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Amazon.com was accused in a lawsuit of infringing a Cendant patent for a Web site feature that makes recommendations to consumers based on past purchases.

The patent, awarded to Cendant Publishing in August, covers a method of informing a customer about the choices of goods and services made by other customers listed in a database.

The feature, accessible on Seattle-based Amazon's Web site, tells the Internet retailer's consumers who are purchasing an item about other products bought by customers who purchased the same item. Amazon's continued use of the system will "cause Cendant Publishing harm" unless stopped by court action, according to the suit.

Amazon uses the system in part by displaying the message, "Customers who bought this book also bought," followed by a list of books, Cendant says in its suit.

Las Vegas-based Cendant Publishing seeks a jury trial and damages in the lawsuit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Del.

Amazon spokeswoman Patty Smith said the company doesn't comment on pending lawsuits.

Cendant Publishing is a unit of New York-based Cendant, the largest U.S. real-estate and travel-services company, with $18.1 billion in sales last year.

Amazon is the world's largest Internet retailer, with $5.26 billion in sales last year.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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