New York-based Rates Technology is suing Internet giant Google for what it claims as patent violation in the VoIP software used by Google, an AFP report said.
The AFP report said Rates Technology will be asking for $5 billion in damages from Google.
Jerry Weinberger, CEO of Rates Technology, was quoted as saying that he was the inventor of a software program that allows telephone calls to be placed over the Internet.
The AFP report said Weinberger cited that 120 companies, including Lucent, Cisco, IBM, Yahoo and Microsoft, have paid RTI to use the technology for VoIP.
Weinberger alleged that Google 'has abused' two patented Rates Technology software programs in Google Talk, which enables users to talk through a computer headset or to instant message each other for free, the AFP report said.
A Google spokesman quoted by the New York Post dismissed the lawsuit as 'without merit.'