Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is suing 11 US tech firms, including Apple and Google, claiming patent violation over components essential to modern search and e-commerce sites.
Allen has filed suit against the companies, which also include Yahoo, Facebook and eBay, in a US district court.
The tech firms have been accused of violating four patents developed by Allen's now-defunct Interval Licensing, which he had founded in the 1990s. Two such patents relate to the automatic generation of suggestions for similar items on e-commerce, news and social networking sites, the Wall Street Journal said.
The other two refer to websites' generation of peripheral elements, such as ads, stock quotes and video images.
Google's YouTube, as well as AOL, Netflix, Office Depot, OfficeMax, Staples, are also named in the lawsuit. The suit does not target Microsoft, in which Allen remains a major shareholder.
Google, Facebook and eBay have all promised to fight vigorously against the allegations.
“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,” Google said in a statement.
The suit does not yet specify alleged damages.
Allen, who has a net worth estimated at $31.5 billion, was among the 38 billionaires who this month pledged to give away the majority of their wealth to philanthropy after their deaths. Last year he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, but has since completed a course of treatment.
It is the latest in a number of high-profile patent lawsuits. Oracle this month sued Google, claiming infringement of Java patents.
Apple, Nokia and HTC have also been busy and countersuing each other, and both Nokia and HTC have also been targets of recent patent suits from South Korea's Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI).
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