Portal site sued over ad technique

NHN Corp., a portal Web site, has been hit with an 8.5 billion won ($7.2 million) damage suit for alleged infringement of patent rights. Two Internet program developers took NHN to court, alleging that the portal used an “Internet search advertisement technique” that they had patented. They want NHN to pay them their estimate of the profits that the firm made using that advertising technique. It allows a company that has paid a fee to be placed first among results of a Web search by an Internet users. NHN said that it had consulted a law firm and was assured that it had not violated any patent rights by using the technique. “The method of listing advertisers in search results is different from the patented method,” a NHN employee said. Such Internet search advertisement techniques are commonly used by other portal Web sites as well. The Internet program developers said they are discussing royalties with portals such as Daum and Empas. Other Internet firms, such as Google, employ similar techniques but put advertiser listings on a separate part of the page. by Kwon Hyeok-joo