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Denver company says Amazon ripped off idea

James Paton, Rocky Mountain News

Published February 18, 2006 at midnight

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An obscure Denver-based company has sued Amazon.com, accusing the Internet retailer of ripping off its idea to make online shopping easier.

Registrar Systems claims in its lawsuit that two inventors, John Klug and Thad Peterson, came up with technology in 1995 that stores online customers' personal data and automatically provides the information to other Web sites, "recognizing that users would likely have to fill out countless similar forms."

But Amazon.com is using the concept, the lawsuit contends. Basically it means that Amazon.com users who go to Target.com or other Web sites only need to punch in billing details once, according to the patent infringement lawsuit, which also names Target.

The issue pits a giant with $8.5 billion in sales last year against a small Denver outfit that doesn't appear on the radar screen at all.

Registrar Systems isn't currently using the technology it is fighting to protect, said Gregory Tamkin, a lawyer for the company.

Amazon.com, based in Seattle, said in a filing with securities regulators on Friday that it disputes "the allegations of wrongdoing in this complaint and intend to vigorously defend ourselves in this matter."

The company didn't offer any additional comment. A receptionist answering the phone at Amazon.com's headquarters said he didn't know who handled media inquiries, and a lawyer representing the company did not return a telephone call.

Tamkin, a lawyer for Dorsey & Whitney in Denver, said neither Amazon.com nor Target has formally responded to the allegations.

Tamkin said it's a "straightforward" case.

"There's clear infringement here," he said.

Target's Web site "tells users that 'if you're already an Amazon.com guest, we give you the option of using your existing Amazon.com address book, credit cards and sign-in information on Target.com to avoid having to enter the information again,' " the lawsuit claims.

Amazon.com also shares customers' data with many other companies, including Office Depot, Nordstrom, Macy's, Urban Outfitters, Bluefly and AutoZone, according to the lawsuit filed in Denver.

"These are the very activities and abilities that the plaintiff's patents protect," the lawsuit says.

Registrar Systems, run by Klug, discovered last year that Amazon.com was implementing the idea, Tamkin said.

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