NEW YORK, USA: Xerox Corp has sued Google Inc and Yahoo Inc, accusing them of infringing the document management company's patents related to Internet search.

In a lawsuit filed last Friday in the U.S. District Court in Delaware, Xerox said Google's Web-based services such as Google Maps, YouTube and AdSense advertising software, as well as Web tools including Yahoo Shopping, infringe patents granted as far back as 2001.

Xerox seeks compensation for past infringement and asked the court to halt the companies from further using the technology.

Xerox's patents cover such technology as a system for generating queries for information related to a document, and methods for integrating information from documents and other data, Xerox said in a court filing.

A Yahoo spokeswoman said the company does not believe it is infringing the patents, and that it plans to fight the case.

Google Senior Litigation Counsel Catherine Lacavera said in an emailed statement that the claims are entirely without merit and that the company will "defend against them vigorously."