The lawsuits allegedly come "after nearly four years of attempts by IBM to resolve its concerns with Amazon.com over infringement of IBM’s patents".

The suits were filed in two District Courts for the Eastern District of Texas: one suit in the Tyler Division and the other suit in the Lufkin Division.

"We filed this case for a very simple reason. IBM's property is being knowingly and unfairly exploited," explained Dr. John E. Kelly III, senior vice president of IBM Technology and Intellectual Property.

Dr Kelly continued:

"IBM is one of the world's leading creators of intellectual property and one of the most progressive in embracing new, highly collaborative ways of driving and managing innovation. Everything we do is premised on the fundamental principle that IBM's intellectual property is one of our core assets, and represents the work product of tens of thousands of scientists and engineers and billions of dollars of investment."

IBM went on to reveal details of the patents that it alleges Amazon has infringed, which include:

1. US 5,796,967 - Presenting Applications in an Interactive Service.

2. US 5,442,771 - Storing Data in an Interactive Network.

3. US 7,072,849 - Presenting Advertising in an Interactive Service.

4. US 5,446,891 - Adjusting Hypertext Links with Weighted User Goals and Activities.

5. US 5,319,542 - Ordering Items Using an Electronic Catalogue.

IBM stated that from September 2002 onwards, it notified Amazon.com numerous times of the infringement, but revealed that: "Amazon.com has shown no willingness to have meaningful discussions."

“When someone takes our property, without our permission through a license, we have no option but to protect it through every means available to us,” concluded Kelly.