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Earthcomber, a mobile software application development company, recently filed lawsuits against 12 real estate companies, alleging the companies violated a patent Earthcomber secured in 2006, which allows users to find content that meets their "stated preferences."
Jim Brady, founder and president of Earthcomber, told PaidContent.com that the patent is crucial to protecting his small tech company, which was an early visionary when it came to combining Palm and Bluetooth technology.
Other small tech companies might look at this case as an example of why it's imperative to have good professional liability insurance, so that a company can afford to take on legal battles that could be crucial to its success.
According to AGBeat, the 12 companies that Earthcomber has identified as defendants in the lawsuit are Dominion Enterprises, LoopNet, Move, Inc., MyNewPlace.com, the National Association of Realtors, Network Communications, Inc., Primedia, RealPage, Inc., Redfin, Trulia, Zillow and ZipRealty.
This isn't the first major lawsuit Earthcomber has been involved in. In 2008, the company sued mobile social network Loopt and the blog TechCrunch, also for patent violation.