Remember Microsoft’s co-founder Paul Allen? He seems to be having some trouble with several US companies that are said to have built their businesses around what Allen claims is his patented technology. Allen has filed a suit against the following companies: AOL, Apple, Google, Facebook, Office Depot, Office Max, Staples, EBay, Yahoo and YouTube. The suit which was filed in federal court, through Allen claims that the companies mentioned before are all using technology that was developed about a decade ago by Interval Research Corp. a lab and technology company which Allen financed with around $100 million. While Mr. Allen didn’t develop any of the technology himself, he now owns all of the patents. Missing from the list of defendants are two companies, Microsoft (where Allen is still a major investor) and Amazon which is based in Allen’s hometown of Seattle.
The four patents mentioned in the suit mostly refer to basic components of websites such as site suggestions for users which are displayed based on the content the users are currently viewing, related articles or videos along the side of one’s screen.
Most companies that were sued obviously had many things to say about this, including Google.”This lawsuit against some of America’s most innovative companies reflects an unfortunate trend of people trying to compete in the courtroom instead of the marketplace,” a Google spokesman said.
A Facebook spokesman said, “We believe this suit is completely without merit and we will fight it vigorously.”
EBay announced that it was reviewing the complaint and planning a defense whereas representatives from the other companies have declined to comment so far.
This lawsuit is far from the first of this type to appear in the last few years. According to the Wall Street Journal, many firms such as NTP Inc enforce patent without making any actual products. In July NTP sued Apple, Microsoft and four other companies over patents which referred to wireless transferring of e-mails to mobile phones. For the same charges, RIM had to pay $612.5 million to NTP in 2006 to settle. While Allen wasn’t available for comment, a spokesman declared that Allen’s lab created the technology that he wants to mark as his own “We recognize that innovation has a value, and patents are the way to protect that,” said the spokesman, David Postman.
Allen, the 37th richest person in the world, according to Forbes Magazine has been treated for Hodgkin’s disease and currently has no medical issues. Back in July he also announced that he would give half of his estimated wealth to charity after his death. While some people speculated that this new lawsuit may have something to do with the recent pledge to give away his fortune, Postman claimed that the timing wasn’t related to Allen’s health of personal finances.11