A Russian search engine is going after Google (NSDQ: GOOG) and others it says are breaching its patent on a search technique. Quintura has been operating a visual search engine interface, which shows results in a relational, contextual cloud format, since 2005 and was last year awarded the latest of eight U.S. patents.

Last May, Google introduced its own little-used visual search interface, Wonder Wheel, tucked away in its search options, that offers similar functionality. Quintura CEO Yakov Sadchikov told paidContent:UK Google and others may be infringing his patent, saying he has contacted them and would be seeking further action.

“The strategy is to make all those search engines and tools that utilize a graphical user interface that is covered by our patent license it,” Sadchikov said. “We have identified several companies and services that could have infringed the patent. We plan to approach them at the same time with same request.

“Since the patent was issued on December 1, we can claim any damages from that date. For now, it’s been only two months. Our service went live a few years ago and, since then, quite a few large companies copycatted it.”

It’s the latest patent - for “Search engine graphical interface using maps of search terms and images” -  which Sadchikov claims is being infringed, although its technique of associating a favicon with search results doesn’t seem to be one used by Google’s Wonder Wheel. Is this a serious claim, or a search for business?

Quintura operates the search facility at its own quintura.com, but the site is mainly a shop window for the technology. The company’s business is to white-label visual site search to publishers - it’s currently being used by over 5,000, ranging from individual bloggers to Axel Springer’s Russian magazine sites and Komputerra Publishing House.

Most Quintura sales are at home in Russia; the company has U.S. office in Virginia, but it scaled back there last year as the recession reduced publisher demand for the service, Sadchikov said.