Google Seeks to Void Overture’s Patents

Google Inc. is asking a federal judge to invalidate a patent owned by rival Overture Services Inc. that lets businesses, for a fee, have Web sites listed in the results of Internet queries.

Google, based in Mountain View, Calif., denies that it infringes the Overture patent. In court papers responding to Overture’s patent-infringement lawsuit in San Francisco, Google also challenges the validity of a patent issued to Pasadena-based Overture under its former name, GoTo.com

Closely held Google said GoTo.com operated a system described in the patent more than a year before the application was filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in May 1999. Under U.S. patent law, that may be the basis for invalidating the patent if Google proves its allegations.

The two companies are battling for clients such as AOL Time Warner Inc.’s America Online, Yahoo Inc., EarthLink Inc. and Microsoft Corp.’s MSN Web site.

Overture shares rose 60 cents to $23.65 on Nasdaq. They’ve risen 17% in the last year.