Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, the 37th-richest person in the world, filed a lawsuit yesterday in a Seattle U.S. District Court against eleven major corporations, including Apple, Google, and Facebook, accusing them of infringing on technology patents. Allen claims his company, Interval Licensing LLC, provided initial research funding for Sergey Brin and Larry Page, which “resulted in Google,” pointing out his “deep history with Google.” Interval alleges that Google’s YouTube unit, Apple, AOL, Facebook, Yahoo, eBay, and Netflix also violated four of Interval’s patents issued between the years 2000 and 2004, and the company’s asking for unspecified damages and an injunction preventing the defendants from further infringement. Google, Facebook, and eBay said they will battle the accusations in court. Whoa, tech fight.
Paul Allen’s firm sues Silicon Valley giants [Reuters via Deadline]
