Judge dismisses patent complaint against Apple

A federal judge in Seattle has dismissed a patent infringement complaint filed against Apple and several other tech companies for being too vague. The lawsuit was filed by Interval Licensing, a company controlled by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, and alleged that Apple, along with Google, YouTube, Facebook, AOL, eBay, Netflix, Staples, and OfficeMax, infringes on four patents owned by Interval. The Wall Street Journal reports that both Google and Apple filed motions to dismiss the suit, claiming that the complaint didn’t specify which of the various companies’ products were infringing. “The allegations in the complaint are spartan,” wrote U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman in her decision. Interval has until December 28 to file an amended complaint, which a spokesperson for Allen indicated was in the company’s plans, calling the dismissal a “procedural issue.”