Paul Allen Amends Lawsuit Against Facebook, Apple 129
itwbennett writes "A Federal judge dismissed Paul Allen's initial patent infringement lawsuit against Apple, Facebook, Google and others earlier this month because it was too vague and gave Allen until Dec. 28 to file an amendment providing more details of his claims. His lawyers responded with a 35-page document filed late Tuesday. The amendment details features of the defendants' websites that are alleged to infringe on the patents and also includes a last-minute amendment that targets Google's Android mobile operating system in a move that could spell trouble for phone manufacturers and app developers."
In this first post I say (Score:3, Insightful)
I doubt Android users are trembling. 1) the thing has already been dismissed once, we'll see if the "new detail" is enough, and 2) it already has Oracle coming after it in its mad dash to monetize Java.
Talk about a vague patent... (Score:5, Insightful)
If, as TFA indicates, the same patent can be violated by iTunes and a spam filter, then it seems pretty likely that the patent is trying to assert a claim over an *idea* and not a specific invention. Can you imagine the impact if Henry Ford had been able to patent "thing with wheels on it and a motor"?
Re:If I had a $1 for every patent troll (Score:5, Insightful)
Patents that don't have a specific invention attached to them should be invalid. Ideas aren't supposed to be patentable, specific inventions are...
Re:In this first post I say (Score:5, Insightful)
Probably.
Google does not call their language "Java" and with GPL V2, copyright issues are moot
With GPL v3, Patents are moot as well.
Oracle has no case but they must press on or be sued by their own stockholders.