Shocking many court observers, an appeals court threw out a $521 million patent verdict against Microsoft.
The Federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia stated that a trial judge had erred in “failing to let a jury hear some evidence to support Microsoft’s claim that the patent it had been accused of infringing on was invalid”, according to the New York Times. “To win at retrial, Microsoft must successfully challenge the validity of a patent held by the University of California and licensed to Eolas Technologies, a private company.
NY Times: In the first trial, which ended in August 2003, a jury found that Microsoft’s Web browser, Internet Explorer, infringed on a patent for navigating the Internet. Judge James B. Zagel of Federal District Court in Chicago, who presided over the trial, then ordered Microsoft to change its software or stop distributing the browser. Microsoft said in January 2004 that it would wait for the appeal before making any changes.
A lawyer for Eolas, Martin R. Lueck of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi, said the issue of the patent’s validity was a “narrow question.”
“We believe, even in light of this ruling, that we will prevail” on the validity issue, Mr. Lueck said in an interview.”
Reuters added: “The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said the original verdict, which found that parts of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer Web browser had infringed on technology developed by privately held firm Eolas Technologies Inc. and the University of California, had ignored two of Microsoft’s key arguments.
The case sparked concerns that Microsoft would have to alter its Internet browser, making it unable to run certain applets, or mini-applications, that run on Web pages. Microsoft’s browser is used by 9 of every 10 Web surfers.
But a year ago, Microsoft won a ruling by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which invalidated a claim by the plaintiffs to the browser technology that allows other mini-applications to work with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.
“We have maintained throughout this process that the Eolas patent is not valid and today’s ruling is a clear affirmation of our position,” Microsoft spokeswoman Stacy Drake said in an e-mailed statement.”
“The case has been closely watched because a ruling against Microsoft might necessitate revisions to millions of web pages and, on a broader level, could affect intellectual property rights of other technology companies. Microsoft called Wednesday’s ruling “a clear victory not only for Microsoft, but for Internet users as well.” In recent trading, Microsoft shares were down $0.04 to $25.22.”
One blogger agrees with the ruling stating, “Good! I think the patent claim is akin to putting a patent on the wheel; the “technology” is too simple to and too obvious to qualify as a new invention.”
murdok | Breaking eBusiness News
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