We reported previously on Paul Allen’s law suit against everyone in the world, including your mom. The law suit took some very vaguely worded patents and made a claim that more than a dozen major technology companies had violated them. The companies in question included Google, Facebook, Apple, AOL, Netflix, YouTube, and eBay to name a few. Of course, when the judge flatly rejected his claims — citing improper substantiation, inappropriately met guidelines, and more — everyone assumed that Paul Allen would drop his effort rather than re-filing. Well, we were all wrong.
According to the Seattle Times report, Allen has put his case together once again, and this time with much more specificity. In addition to actually saying how each company allegedly infringed on his patents, Allen and his legal team have taken snapshots of the sites that they believe do so. Each of these pictures highlights the portion of the site that is, according to Allen, in violation.
The majority of analysts and legal experts have called Allen’s efforts the same thing: a shot at exploitation, targeting some of the deepest pockets in the world. After all, the patents were filed for a company that’s been closed down for over a decade, and the language in them is well less than clear. For example, Allen’s claim states that his patents should cover any system that automatically pulls relevant, related content to a page — which could be applied to everything from Google’s content network to suggested videos on YouTube to related apps and much more. However, while the filing itself is one of the longest shots we’ve seen, the incentive is certainly there; Allen stands to gain $500 million, possibly more, if he wins his case.
You can read the fresh re-filing for yourself, here.
