As reported by our friends over at Blockbrief.com. Zillow’s algorithm driven application that estimates home values of listed properties, Zestimates, is at the centre of a growing legal battle. US real estate site Zillow has sued its competitor Trulia over alleged copyright infringements, calling Trulia Estimates – a feature the site introduced last year a blatant copy.
The US Patent in question is 7,970,674, otherwise known as the “Automatically Determining A Current Value For A Real Estate Property, Such As A Home, That Is Tailored To Input From A Human User, Such As Its Owner”, which helps determine a home’s values based on factors such as area, bedroom count, recent sales of similar homes, and more.
From the court documents:
“Trulia’s blatant and ongoing copying of Zillow’s innovative approach to home valuation infringes Zillow’s patent and Zillow is entitled to damages and an injunction against further infringement.”
I wonder whether this could become a headache for Onthehouse.com.au who have a very similar feature called Guesstimates.
onthehouse.com.au has launched ‘Guesstimates’… Giving you an automated estimate ‘Guesstimate’ value on almost every property in Australia! ‘Guesstimates’ are available for free online on almost every property in Australia from our property values section.
