American Greetings Sues Rival Hallmark

American Greetings Corp., the second-largest U.S. greeting card maker, sued its No. 1 rival, Hallmark Cards Inc., over patents for ordering personalized cards online. In a lawsuit filed Jan. 25 in federal court in Ohio, American Greetings contends that Hallmark’s three patents, awarded in 1996, 1999 and 2000, “are invalid under the laws of the U.S.” because Hallmark knew of earlier inventions before the patents were issued. The suit says that Kansas City, Mo.-based Hallmark, which has already filed and dropped one patent lawsuit against American Greetings, intends to bring another suit against the company and its Americangreetings.com Inc. unit. The Cleveland-based company asks for damages and legal fees, a jury trial and rulings that the Hallmark patents are not infringed and not enforceable. Officials of closely held Hallmark wouldn’t comment on the suit. Hallmark, with $4.2 billion in 1999 sales, sells cards in more than 100 countries. Shares of American Greetings rose 55 cents to close at $12.79 on the NYSE.