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Skype Hit With (Another) Patent Suit

While the gravity of the suit is still unclear, Skype is facing another patent lawsuit, which was reportedly served on the same day that Microsoft agreed to buy the Web-calling company. In short, as TechCrunch reports, Luxembourg-based Via Vadis claims to have a patent on a "data access management system as well as a method for data access and data."

As TechCrunch explains, "Both patents describe data management systems which break up files for redundancy and distribute them across different 'storage units.'" The lawsuit claims the patents cover the same technology Skype uses for its "supernodes" -- which function as fallback peers in Skype's peer-to-peer technology, according to TechCrunch. And while the timing is quite awkward, "Skype is no stranger to patent litigation," TechCrunch notes. "One time, even its founders pursued a lawsuit against it. But this is a new lawsuit, not yet reported as far as I can tell."

Read the whole story at TechCrunch »

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