USPTO Rejects Eolas Patent Claim

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

09 March 2004

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced last week that following a reassessment, it has rejected a web browser add-on patent held by Eolas Technologies. This has delighted software giant, Microsoft, which had been ordered to pay the firm nearly $521 million for use of the patented technology.

Eolas had accused Microsoft of taking technology which allows users to access interactive programs embedded in web pages and bundling it with Windows as its own ActiveX technology. Last August, a jury ruled that Microsoft had infringed patents granted to the University of California but administered by Eolas, and ordered the software giant to pay out $520.6 million.

The award was reportedly based on a calculation of $1.47 per unit for the 354 million copies of the operating system sold between November 1998 (when the patent was granted to Eolas) and September 2001.

Eolas now has just under sixty days to respond to the the Patent Office's decision, and if it chooses to appeal the finding, can have its complaint forwarded to the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences.

However, if the Board finds against Eolas, Microsoft can ask for the ruling against it to be reversed.

Speaking at the weekend, a Microsoft spokesman announced that:

"The patent office's decision concerning the Eolas patent is just one step in their review process, but clearly a positive step. This decision, while welcome, is not surprising. We have maintained all along that, when scrutinized closely, this patent would be ruled invalid."

Eolas, meanwhile has argued that the prior art challenge to its patent is not "very persuasive".

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