comScore being sued by Nielsen over patents and sues right back

comScore, which partners with Canada's Print Measurement Bureau on readership and purchase metrics, is being sued by Nielsen over patent infringement. 

On March 15, according to a story on Audience Development, Nielsen filed suit in U.S. district court in Virginia, claiming infringement on five paents relating to monitoring, collection and analysis of audience data. No surprise that comScore has counter-sued.

The damages Nielsen is seeking were not specified in the filing, but outside of a ruling that decrees comScore willingly infringed on the patents, Nielsen is looking for compensation on royalties, damages from the infringement itself and legal fee coverage.

The suit drives right to the core of the data collection and analysis methods the companies use. Nielsen is claiming infringement over patents responsible for a "computer use meter and analyzer"; "metering of Internet content using a control"; "network resource monitoring and measurement system and method"; "content display monitoring by a processing system"; and a "content display monitor".