Paul Allen v. The Internet

” Former Microsoft executive and billionaire Paul Allen sued
several major Internet companies and three large retailers for
patent infringement today, asserting that four patents originating
at Interval Research, Allen’s dot-com era think tank, cover basic
web browsing and e-commerce technologies.

“The lawsuit [PDF] was filed by Interval Licensing LLC, a
patent-holding company owned by Allen, and names eleven companies
as defendants: AOL, Apple, eBay, Facebook, Google, Netflix, Office
Depot, OfficeMax, Staples, Yahoo, and YouTube.

“Interval Research was founded in 1992. It closed its doors in
2000, but the lawsuit is necessary to monetize the investment that
Allen made in the organization, said David Postman, a spokesman for
Allen.”

Related Wired
article here, thanks PJ at Groklaw! –ed.

Complete Story