Another long-running patent case may be drawing to a close. Earlier this week, a retrial of the patent infringement lawsuit filed by Eolas Technologies against Microsoft was supposed to begin in a Chicago courtroom. Citing active settlement discussions, Microsoft asked the judge for a 30-day postponement, to which Eolas agreed.
The legal battle dates to 1999, when Eolas Technologies sued Microsoft for infringing on a patent for browser plug-ins. The technology itself was demonstrated as far back as 1993 by its inventors, and the patent was granted in 1998, four years after it was filed. Eolas claimed that Microsoft's ActiveX implementation infringed on its patents.
In August 2003, a jury found Microsoft guilty of infringement and awarded Eolas over $520 million in damages. Web luminaries such as Tim Berners-Lee weighed in against the Eolas patent, and in November of that year, the W3C also made its case to the US Department of Commerce that the patent should be overturned due to prior art.
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