Volume II

Issue : 2: January 22, 2004

• U.S. Court of Appeals Finds Trade-mark Rights May Limit "Keyed" Internet Searches
• Canadian Race Track First to Offer Online Gambling
• Microsoft Still on the Hook in EOLAS Patent Battle
• USPTO Releases List of Top Ten Patent Recipients for 2003
• U.S. Court of Appeals Rules that "Lawoffices" is Not Entitled to Trademark Protection
• VoIP: Level 3 Files Petition Seeking Exemption - FCC Chair Opposes Application of Existing Regulation - FBI Seeks Ability to Intercept Conversions - Bangladesh Telecom Breaks Law
• Canadian Firm Required to Pay Redress for Misleading Domain Name Marketing
• Copyright Ruling Appealed by Industry Groups - CRIA Launching Lawsuits Against File Swappers
• US-Court-of-Appeals-Dismisses-Honeywells-Attempt-to-Utilize-Trademark-Protection-in-Expired-Patent-Case
• Canadian Consumer Ministers Approve E-Commerce Code

Home > Volume II > Issue 2: January 22, 2004 > Microsoft Still on the Hook in EOLAS Patent Battle

Microsoft Still on the Hook in EOLAS Patent Battle

In its appeal of a jury verdict that required Microsoft to pay US$521M to Eolas Technologies and the University of California in a web browser patent suit, Judge James Zagel ruled against Microsoft last week in the U.S. District Court in Chicago. Despite the fact that the underlying patent in dispute is facing a rare U.S. Patent and Trademark Office instituted review for patentability and the Judge's personal discomfort in the amount of the award, the Judge saw no reason to overturn the jury.

Microsoft was further enjoined from distributing infringing software, but the injunction was immediately stayed pending an appeal. Microsoft is expected to appeal immediately.

Many in the web community have rallied in a bid to overturn the patent, scouring resources for "prior art" which may be used against the patent. There is a general fear that if Microsoft is required to re-write its browser, it might no longer support legacy web pages that may fall within the current patent. This would be a significant burden for the IT community.

For a copy of the decision, visit:
http://www.eolas.com/Zagel-final-judgement-99c0626.pdf
For additional information, visit:
http://news.com.com/2100-1023_3-5141318.html