Eolas Refutes US Patent Office Prior Art Claims

by Glen Shapiro, LawAndTax-News.com, New York

13 May 2004

Eolas Technologies Inc. has officially responded to early findings from the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) which suggested that a patent held on license by the firm which relates to web browser add-ons may be invalid.

Following a $521 million jury verdict in favour of Eolas in a dispute over infringement of the patent with Microsoft last year, the USPTO agreed in November to reassess the patent, which was issued in 1998.

In initial findings issued in February of this year, the Patent Office suggested that significant 'prior art' had been found to exist for the technology which allows users to access interactive programs buried in web pages, which would therefore appear to invalidate Eolas' patent.

Speaking to the US media on Tuesday, the firm's attorney, Martin Lueck revealed that in its response to the USPTO findings, Eolas had defended the patent's validity, and rejected the prior art claims.

"We basically reiterated the arguments we set forth in the trial," he announced.

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