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Court Overturns $565 Million Eolas Patent Ruling Against Microsoft

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 2, 2005 - 7:53am.
San Francisco -- A federal appeals court has overturned a $565 million patent infringement judgment against Microsoft and ordered a retrial of the lawsuit, brought by Internet browser developer Eolas, a UCLA spin-off. The decision was hailed by both Microsoft and Eolas, as the split ruling included provisions benefiting both sides. Most importantly, the appeals court found that the lower court incorrectly threw out the "Viola" browser, developed by Pei Wei, which Microsoft had argued represented "prior art" that would invalidate the Eolas patent. "It's a huge victory," Andy Culbert, associate general counsel of patent litigation for Microsoft, told News.com. "The essence of our defense was that this patent was invalid, based on the good work done by Pei Wei, and the court of appeals has completely vindicated our assertions."
tags: Law | Microsoft | Court | Eolas Patent |