Interval's lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages for the alleged infringements along with an order that directs the defendants either to stop using the patented technologies or give Allen and Co their share in the royalties.
MICROSOFT'S co-founder Paul Allen has filed cases against nearly a dozen companies, most of which are Silicon Valley giants. All the companies have been sued on the grounds of patent infringement.
The company, Interval Licensing LLC on Friday filed cases in the Seattle federal court against Apple, Google, AOL, eBay, Facebook, Netflix, Office Depot, OfficeMax, Staples, Yahoo and YouTube.The patents in the lawsuit mentioned cover some of the basic internet technologies that were owned by Interval Research, a company formed by Allen and his partner David Liddle in the early 90's. The company which was wound up in 2000 was awarded more than 300 patents in the field of technology.
The company mentioned that it believes that the patents being misused are the basic approach to e-commerce and how search companies function. The patents which have also irked Allen includes technology for web browsing and sending alerts over the internet.On the technologies infringed, Allen's spokesperson said that they are absolutely key processes that have become a part of people's everyday browsing on the web. The company also believes that these are key processes for e-commerce and search.These statements attracted immediate response from Google, which refused to access or use any of Allen's patented technologies.Interval's lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages for the alleged infringements along with an order that directs the defendants either to stop using the patented technologies or give Allen and Co their share in the royalties.It is assumed that, since the wake of internet technology, Interval Research was an early, ground-breaking contributor to the development of the internet economy.