Google Inc., owner of the most frequently used Internet engine, must face a Wisconsin company’s lawsuit over a browser toolbar feature that generates Web links from search data, a federal appeals court decided Wednesday.

HyperPhrase Technologies accused Google’s AdSense advertising feature and its AutoLink product last April of violating four of its patents. U.S. District Judge John Shabaz dismissed HyperPhrase’s lawsuit in its entirety in December.

"We're very pleased that the Federal Circuit agreed that AdSense does not infringe any of HyperPhrase's patents. We continue to believe the remaining claims in the lawsuit are without merit, and will vigorously defend against those claims," said, at that time, Michael Kwun, a lawyer for Google, according to the Boston Globe.

However, in a ruling dated Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington said Shabaz erred when he dismissed the claims involving Google’s AutoLink feature. The appeals court sent the case back for a decision on whether the patents had been violated.

As part of Google’s Web browser toolbar, AutoLink gives users more information than standard Web blinks, as it recognizes data such as addresses and book numbers then provides links to online maps or books on Amazon.com.

This is not the only case Google is fighting. Like many high tech firms, it regularly faces patent infringement lawsuits.

Representatives for Google and HyperPhrase, Madison, Wisconsin could not be reached for comment Wednesday.