Jerry Weinberger, chief executive of Rates Technology Inc. (RTI), said he was the inventor of software programming that allows telephone calls to be placed over the Internet.

He said 120 companies, including Lucent, Cisco, IBM, Yahoo and Microsoft, have paid RTI to use the technology for "Voice over Internet Protocol" (VoIP) calls.

RTI filed suit in a Long Island federal court against Google two months ago because the search engine was using the technology without authorisation, Weinberger said after the New York Post reported the lawsuit Friday.

"They told us to go to hell," the RTI boss told AFP. "They are the most arrogant company in the world."

Weinberger alleged that Google has abused two patented RTI software programs in Google Talk, which enables users to talk through a computer headset or to instant message each other for free.

He said Google could be liable for damages of up to five billion dollars in a trial, unless it settles the complaint out of court.

Google spokesman Steve Langdon responded dismissively. "We believe the lawsuit is without merit and we will defend against it vigorously," he said.

But news of the lawsuit hit Google stock, which has been a stellar performer on the Nasdaq exchange this year. The share price was down 4.81 dollars at 415.34 in early afternoon trade.

VoIP usage is growing fast. Microsoft and US telecoms group MCI allied this month to offer users low-cost global calling, joining a market that also includes Skype, recently purchased by eBay, and Yahoo along with Google.

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