Paul Allen Sues Apple, Among Others. Say What?!!! (AAPL, GOOG)

Interval Licensing, co-founded by Paul Allen who is also the co-founder of Microsoft MSFT, is suing Apple AAPL, Google GOOG Facebook, and others. Interval claims the companies infringed on 4 internet search patents currently held by Interval, Reuters writes. Interval Licensing is claiming that four patents were infringed upon by AOL AOL, eBay EBAY, Facebook, Netflix, Office Depot, Inc. ODP, OfficeMax, Staples, Inc. SPLS Yahoo YHOO, and YouTube according to the suit. Interval said in a press release that its patents were fundamental to e-commerce and search. Interval spokesman David Postman said, "This lawsuit is necessary to protect our investment in innovation. We are not asserting patents that other companies have filed, nor are we buying patents originally assigned to someone else. These are patents developed by and for Interval." AOL, Office Depot, Netflix and OfficeMax had no comment when asked about the lawsuit. The other companies named in the suit were not immediately available for comment. Facebook on the other hand, said it would fight the claims made by Interval. "We believe this suit is completely without merit and we will fight it vigorously," said Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes. What's not known at this point is the exact patents violated, and how they affect day to day use of the Internet, and e-commerce in particular. If Interval is successful in its lawsuit, and it may be quite some time before a verdict on this case comes to fruition, it could change the technology sector forever. Stay tuned on this one. This could be a game changer, and not in a good way.