Eolas browser patent challenged by US Patent Office
WinNetMag | at | by Mike
Bowing to pressure from Microsoft, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and other trade groups, the US Patent Office has agreed to reexamine the Eolas Web browser patent that lies at the center of the company's lawsuit against Microsoft. Eolas, you may recall, obtained the exclusive rights to a patent granted to the University of California in 1998 which describes the ways in which a browser can access add-in programs typically called plug-ins. The patent earned Eolas, a one-man company, a $521 million jury verdict against Microsoft in August, and analysts fear Eolas would set its sights on other browser makers if its Microsoft suit is ultimately successful.