Apple and Google Included in Suit Over Embedded Interactive Media in Browsers

[MacRumors]

CNET reports that Apple, Google, and twenty other companies have been sued by Eolas Technologies for patent infringement related to the use of browser plug-ins and Ajax to offer interactive content in Web browsers. The move comes several years after the conclusion of a similar lawsuit brought against Microsoft that resulted in an initial $521 million judgment in favor of Eolas, although the suit was eventually settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.

Eolas' suit is not to be taken lightly. Although the earlier Microsoft case took many years to resolve, and Eolas by no means won a complete victory, the patent involved did overall withstand heavy legal challenges despite many on the Web rallying to Microsoft's aid. Microsoft and Eolas won't describe terms of their 2007 settlement of the patent case, but Eolas did say it expected to pay its shareholders a 2007 dividend afterward.

The Microsoft suit, as well as the new one targeting Apple and others, focused on a patent held by Eolas stemming from work performed by Eolas founder Michael Doyle while at the University of California, San Francisco. The patent, which covers the use of such technologies as Flash and Java plug-ins, was the subject of intense scrutiny during the trial and was initially overturned by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office before being reinstated and serving as the basis of the judgment against Microsoft.

The new suit also includes the use of Ajax Web development techniques for which Eolas has recently received a second patent as an extension of the original. Defendants in the new suit include Adobe, Amazon, Apple, Blockbuster, Citigroup, eBay, Frito-Lay, Go Daddy, Google, J.C. Penney, JPMorgan Chase, Office Depot, Perot Systems, Playboy Enterprises, Staples, Sun Microsystems, Texas Instruments, Yahoo, and YouTube.

Article Link: Apple and Google Included in Suit Over Embedded Interactive Media in Browsers

 

[smileyborg]

Another patent troll? It would be nice to see someone sue Apple for infringing on a patent they actually have put into production, for once.

But this just leads to how messed up our patent/copyright/trademark (IP) system is.

 

[RazHyena]

Man our judicial system is so congested with this bull.

 

[blackpond]

I think I'll file a patent for the process of 'patent trolling' and sue anyone that tries to use it.

 

[Bubba Satori]

Another patent troll? It would be nice to see someone sue Apple for infringing on a patent they actually have put into production, for once.

But this just leads to how messed up our patent/copyright/trademark (IP) system is.

Patent trolls don't collect hundreds of millions of dollars from a company that spends a billion dollars a year on legal fees.

 

[MacDSmith2]

Give me a break! Let's see how many fortune 500 companies we can sue and scare into giving us money. Can you say "SCAM CITY"? I thought so!

 

[arincrumley]

I think I'll file a patent for the process of 'patent trolling' and sue anyone that tries to use it.

That is hilarious, but seriously, this is freaking horrendous. Embed technology? That's internet 101. And that list is just every heavy hitter with money. Who does this person think they are? The inventor of the internet. Dude, let it go. You thought of some ideas that were in the ether and other people have since also thought of them, you are owed nothing but a pat on the back for helping pioneer the internet, as did many, many other people.
Arin

 

[iZac]

All "software patents" should be made invalid. The only software patents i have ever seen have been from lazy gits who sit on some totally vague description and wait for another person or company (with money) to trip over it.

 

[macduke]

How to get rich with little effort:

1.) File for an obscure patent
2.) Never deliver a product
3.) Let someone smarter than you do the real work
4.) Let their product to be successful for 5-10 years
5.) File your case in the Eastern District of Texas
6.) ???
7.) Profit!

 

[PeterQVenkman]

All "software patents" should be made invalid. The only software patents i have ever seen have been from lazy gits who sit on some totally vague description and wait for another person or company (with money) to trip over it.

That seems like what this company does.

Really, who sues Frito Lay over embedding internet content?

 

[Billy Boo Bob]

It's like as if someone is suing to stop the use of telephones because they hold a patent on pushbuttons with numbers on them. Jeez.

Well, at least it's not going to be strictly Apple's legal team fighting this one. They should be in some good company with the names listed.

 

[joueboy]

Great!

How to get rich with little effort:

1.) File for an obscure patent
2.) Never deliver a product
3.) Let someone smarter than you do the real work
4.) Let their product to be successful for 5-10 years
5.) File your case in the Eastern District of Texas
6.) ???
7.) Profit!

NOW I NEED SOME PATENTABLE IDEAS!

 

[zombitronic]

If one guy on one end of the world thinks of the wheel, but another guy on the other end of the world actually creates the wheel, should the first guy get credit?

 

[ct2k7]

Like before, I say again, this is outrageous. That patent is so non-convoluted and non-specific that almost all content providers, and most websites out there infringe.

I'd like to see what happens.

Tim Berners-Lee intervened to no avail. (Microsoft Case)

 

[dmmcintyre3]

Basically anybody who uses PHP, mysql and flash/javascript on their website can be sued over this? Better go delete 80+% of the internet then

 

[mdriftmeyer]

The patent appears to deal with distributed systems via the Web Interface.

Odd: NeXT was doing this back in 1995.

 

[muskratboy]

and all we get is that its now a TOTAL PAIN IN THE ASS to embed objects in pages for IE.

so, they win their patent suit... and the web becomes a little harder to use / code for.

thanks for ****ing nothing, jerks.

 

[EarthDawn]

What a joke and a waste of time ...

 

[jonnysods]

Wow. It's that easy to make money?

I thought $500+ million would be enough to satisfy your urge for blood. Looks like he wants to hit a lot of major players in this suit.

Bit of a nob, this guy is.

 

[sporadicMotion]

Wow, a money grab. I just don't see them winning against that list... that is an epic list of large corporations... including JP Morgan/Chase?! That looks more like legal suicide to me.

 

[BoulderBum]

Man our judicial system is so congested with this bull.

It's mostly in the eastern district of Texas. They let these idiot patent trolls sue over anything.

I think the idea of patents is valid and should remain in place, but we need to stop companies like this who don't add any value, didn't really come up with any of the ideas in question, then go to Texas hoping to leech off of anyone with deep enough pockets.

Someone needs to step up and put an end to the corruption that takes place in the Texas court system.

 

[Ted13]

If one guy on one end of the world thinks of the wheel, but another guy on the other end of the world actually creates the wheel, should the first guy get credit?

That depends. Nobel prizes in physics are sometimes given collectively to competitors who worked independently on a similar idea.

The problem here is software patents. They should not exist. Companies like Apple and Microsoft have thousands of them -- and make it very difficult for a small fry developer to come up with something new and revolutionary without some part of his project stumbling over some vaguely worded patent that the big guy hold. Then you have the patent trolls like Eolas who have never produced a shipping product.

Software patents are used for one purpose only -- to stifle innovation. The only people getting rich are the lawyers.

 

[decimortis]

I have a patent for using letters that look like "e"
You're all going down!

 

[imwoblin]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7C144 Safari/528.16)

Looks like Eolas Technology hit the jackpot.. As far a I can understand, these guys own Web 2.0.

 

[Shasterball]

That is hilarious, but seriously, this is freaking horrendous. Embed technology? That's internet 101. And that list is just every heavy hitter with money. Who does this person think they are? The inventor of the internet. Dude, let it go. You thought of some ideas that were in the ether and other people have since also thought of them, you are owed nothing but a pat on the back for helping pioneer the internet, as did many, many other people.
Arin

LOL LOL. Let it go? They made $500 million last time. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?