Paul Allen Patent Case Against Google, Apple, Facebook & More Thrown Out

Billionaire Paul Allen's patent case against Google, Apple, Facebook and several other big-name companies has been dismissed, with US District Judge Marsha Pechman claiming that "the allegations in the complaint are spartan" and insufficiently specific. Allen and his lawyers now have until December 28 2010 to re-file an amended complaint, something which, according to the WSJ, the team intends to do.

Allen alleges that four patents developed at short-lived investment Interval Research Corp. have been infringed, including technology whereby related item suggestions are given based on a user's current view, and another system whereby new and updated items are added to search results. Both Google and Apple had filed to dismiss the claim, arguing it failed it sufficiently specify which goods or services were at fault. Still, they shouldn't hang up their lawyers quite yet; "The case is staying on track" says Allen spokesperson David Postman.