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NYT Co. Sues Micropayments System Kachingle

The New York Times Co. has filed suit against micropayments system Kachingle for violating its trademarks. Times Co. claims that Mountain View-based Kachingle attempted to market the publisher's services to consumers based on the expectation that the NYTimes.com would start charging readers for access next year. "The NYTCo says that Kachingle approached executives of the paper in Feb. 2009 about giving the micropayments provider access to its articles and blogs," paid Content reports.

"In exchange, Kachingle would give the NYTCo money it collects from consumers, who voluntarily pay for its news distribution service. But the NYT said Kachingle neglected to mention that it would keep a portion of the micropayments and told the site it wasn't interested in participating in its program." According to Times Co., last month, Kachingle opened a site called Kachinglex.com, which looks very much like a NYTimes.com blog page. "The look of that site is apparently what the NYTCo decided to go after," paidContent notes. It's not immediately clear what damages Times Co. is seeking, but one can assume they won't want them in micropayments.

Read the whole story at PaidContent »

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