British patent licensing group BTG is suing a group of Amazon.com and various other US retailers for allegedly infringing its rights over web tracking technology that allows firms to track customers movements on the web.

BTG is claiming an undisclosed amount of damages from the group, which also includes BarnesandNoble.com.

'The suit asks for unspecified damages for past infringing activity and an injunction against future use of the technology,' said the company, in a statement.

The firm had originally tried to negotiate a deal with the firms to license the patents, but had not been able to come to an agreement.

BTG was originally set up by the government to protect and patent the country's intellectual property (IP), and has a track record of taking companies to court to protect its IP.

Earlier this month, it sued Microsoft and Apple for including patented technology in their operating systems that allows people to get software updates over the internet.

Last month, low-cost airline easyJet successfully defended itself in the High Court last week over a long-running dispute with software provider Navitaire concerning the development of its online reservation system.

Navitaire claimed the airline infringed the copyright of its packaged software, which had been used by easyJet before creating its own system. If easyJet had lost the case, its entire system could have been shut down, according to lawyers acting for the company.

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