MARSHALL Texas OpenTable Inc. and Zagat Survey LLC, online reservation service providers for thousands of U.S. restaurants, are among the defendants in a patent infringement lawsuit filed by OnLine Reservations LLC in the U.S. Texas Eastern District Court here.
Also named as defendants in the lawsuit filed July 23 are software and services provider GuestBridge Inc. of Milwaukee, Naan Restaurants LLC of Plano, Texas, and the Washington Post Co. of Washington, D.C.
Elizabeth DeRieux of Longview, Texas, attorney for Austin, Texas-based OnLine Reservations, did not return a phone call from Nation's Restaurant News seeking comment on the litigation.
Aspokeswoman for San Francisco-based OpenTable said there would be no immediate comment by the service that boasts 7,000 restaurant clients and claims that it has helped make reservations on behalf of more than 40 million diners since 1999. Zagat Survey co-founder Tim Zagat did not return a call seeking comment.
OnLine Reservations is suing the defendants for allegedly violating the plaintiff's patented "Apparatus and Method for Internet Based Computer Reservation Booking System," according to a report in the Southeast Texas Record. The legal business journal, based in Beaumont, Texas, said OnLine Reservations is seeking compensation for infringement and treble damages.
