Paul Allen alleges patent infringement

SEATTLE, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen sued in Seattle Friday, contending Apple, Google and others are profiting illegally from patents he owns, court records show.

A spokesman for Allen said the 11 companies named in the suit filed in U.S. District Court are using technology created years ago by Allen's now-defunct Palo Alto, Calif., firm, Interval Research Corp. The suit alleges the companies have used technology covered by four of his patents.

"We recognize that innovation has a value, and patents are the way to protect that," the spokesman, David Postman, told The Wall Street Journal.

Besides Apple and Google, the defendants include Facebook, eBay, AOL Inc., Netflix Inc., Office Depot Inc., OfficeMax Inc., Staples Inc., Yahoo Inc. and Google's YouTube subsidiary. Microsoft was not among them.

No dollar figure was listed for the amount of damages being sought.

Allen, 57, is worth an estimated $13.5 billion.

"This lawsuit against some of America's most innovative companies reflects an unfortunate trend of people trying to compete in the courtroom instead of the marketplace," a Google spokesman told the Journal.

Mark Lemley, a Stanford Law School professor specializing in intellectual property, said the suit "sounds like the classic patent troll case," referring to a label slapped on holders of patents who use their intellectual property primarily as a basis for infringement lawsuits.