Remember that rather vague lawsuit that Paul Allen filed against pretty much everyone in the tech world that was tossed out of court for lacking specifics. It’s back. This time it’s got specifics:
In the suit, Mr. Allen’s firm claims four of its patents – chiefly related to the way Web data is sorted and presented – have been infringed by a number of successful companies.
The first patent concerns the generation of data related to information being browsed. Interval claims Google uses this technology to match advertisements from third parties to content being displayed, while AOL’s sites use it to suggest items related to news stories.
Interval claims Apple’s iTunes service uses the technology to suggest music based on a user’s searches, and that eBay Inc., Facebook, Netflix, Yahoo Inc. and Office Depot’s sites have also infringed the patent in the way they direct users to related content.
The second and third patents concern relaying information on a computer screen in a peripheral, unobtrusive manner, such as in an instant messaging box or overlay.
Interval claims its patent has been infringed by features in AOL’s Instant Messenger, Apple’s Dashboard, Google Talk and Gmail Notifier, Google’s Android phone system and Yahoo Widgets.
The fourth patent concerns alerting web browsers to new items of interest based on activity of other users. Interval claims AOL uses this technology on its shopping sites, while Apple’s iTunes uses it to recommend music.
Interval claims eBay, Facebook, Google, Netflix, Office Depot, Staples Inc., Yahoo and Google’s YouTube all have infringed the patent in the way they suggest content to users.
This seriously sounds like a major cash grab. To think that the co-founder of Microsoft has been reduced to a patent troll is really sad. As always, the only winners will be the lawyers. That too is sad.
<sigh>
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This entry was posted on December 29, 2010 at 8:34 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Lawsuit, Patents. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Paul Allen Sues World + Dog…. Again
Remember that rather vague lawsuit that Paul Allen filed against pretty much everyone in the tech world that was tossed out of court for lacking specifics. It’s back. This time it’s got specifics:
In the suit, Mr. Allen’s firm claims four of its patents – chiefly related to the way Web data is sorted and presented – have been infringed by a number of successful companies.
The first patent concerns the generation of data related to information being browsed. Interval claims Google uses this technology to match advertisements from third parties to content being displayed, while AOL’s sites use it to suggest items related to news stories.
Interval claims Apple’s iTunes service uses the technology to suggest music based on a user’s searches, and that eBay Inc., Facebook, Netflix, Yahoo Inc. and Office Depot’s sites have also infringed the patent in the way they direct users to related content.
The second and third patents concern relaying information on a computer screen in a peripheral, unobtrusive manner, such as in an instant messaging box or overlay.
Interval claims its patent has been infringed by features in AOL’s Instant Messenger, Apple’s Dashboard, Google Talk and Gmail Notifier, Google’s Android phone system and Yahoo Widgets.
The fourth patent concerns alerting web browsers to new items of interest based on activity of other users. Interval claims AOL uses this technology on its shopping sites, while Apple’s iTunes uses it to recommend music.
Interval claims eBay, Facebook, Google, Netflix, Office Depot, Staples Inc., Yahoo and Google’s YouTube all have infringed the patent in the way they suggest content to users.
This seriously sounds like a major cash grab. To think that the co-founder of Microsoft has been reduced to a patent troll is really sad. As always, the only winners will be the lawyers. That too is sad.
<sigh>
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This entry was posted on December 29, 2010 at 8:34 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Lawsuit, Patents. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.