(Newser)
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Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has re-filed his mammoth patent lawsuit targeting a host of major web companies including Apple, Google, Facebook, Netflix, eBay, Aol, and Yahoo. Allen’s original lawsuit, filed in August, was dismissed because it was too vague, failing to name specific products or services. The refiling, which you can see at the Seattle Times, rectifies that, in part by including 40 exhibits, most of which consist of website screenshots with the allegedly offending module highlighted.
One of the four patents the suit concerns, for example, simply concerns the idea of comparing two pieces of data to see if they’re related, something many websites do. Google, for example, allegedly violates the patent by showing ads related to what a user is viewing, while iTunes allegedly violates it by suggesting related music to customers in its store. The revised suit should especially spook Google, according to IP activist Florian Mueller, because it may strike at the heart of the Android OS.
