Antitrust Probe Ended, Pitney Bowes Says

Pitney Bowes Inc., the leading manufacturer of postage meters, said the Justice Department has closed an investigation into whether the company illegally tried to fend off competition from online stamp sellers.

The inquiry was closed without any action being taken, Pitney Bowes said. The government started the review in 1999 after Pitney Bowes sued former rival E-Stamp Corp. over patents for Internet postage.

The company agreed to pay Pitney Bowes an unspecified amount of damages in June.

E-Stamp abandoned the online postage business and was later acquired by Learn2.com Inc., a maker of educational software. Its intellectual property rights for Internet postage were sold to Stamps.com Inc.

Shares of Stamford, Conn.-based Pitney Bowes fell 15 cents to $40.73 on the NYSE.