Just days after settling a lawsuit with Microsoft over the employment contract of Kai-Fu Lee, Google Inc. found itself embroiled in yet another legal dispute.

The tiny Internet call technology firm called Rates Technology Inc. announced it was suing Google Inc. for patent violation. The point of dispute involves technology that enables users to make phone calls over the Internet.

The New York based company is claiming that the technology used in Google Talk is the technology designed by Rates Technology developers. The suit seeks damages from Google and if awarded, would reportedly reach as high as $5 billion in damages. In moving forward with the legal charges,the companystated that they had negotiated payments from both Microsoft and Lucent to use the technology that Rates Technology chief executive officer Jerry Weinberger invented.

Google Inc. spokesman, Steve Langdon, responded that the suit was without merit and that Google would defend against the charges vigorously. However, the news hit investors hard, the share price dropping nearly $5 in afternoon trading.

In addition to the high profile Kai-Fu Lee case, Google has also been the target of two other lawsuits regarding its book-scanning process of the full text out-of-copyright print works into its Google Print database.