Patents, Eolas and Lawsuits!

This is yet another instance patents have gone awry as small time startup Eolas sues over browser apps!

This company which is a spin off from the University of California, which owns the patent rights and shares the royalties with Eolas. That just happened to win a lawsuit against Microsoft in 2003 and as late as February received a continuation patent on the technology from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is now suing 23 other companies over alleged infringement!

I’m not against trying to protect your idea and earn a hefty profit from the royalties but honestly! The patent rights to embed applets and plug—ins in browsers! That is a very broad definition that includes hordes of content served up on the Internet.

What is even worse is that this is after two re—examinations of the validity of Eolas patent it was upheld and a court awarded $565 million against Microsoft in 2003. Then in 2007 Microsoft and Eolas settle out of court.

What is it with the U.S. Patent system?

Am I the only person who thinks this maybe a little insane?

Just to name a few in the lawsuit. You have Adobe, eBay, Amazon.com, Apple, Google, Yahoo, Sun Microsystems, J.C. Penney, PepsiCo, The Go Daddy Group, Perot Systems, Blockbuster, Rent—A—Center, Citigroup and Playboy Enterprises.

Posted on Wednesday, October 7th, 2009 at 12:28pm under Category by admin.