Eolas sues tech giants over Web technology
Summary
Eolas Technologies has sued a large number of corporate powers for infringement of that same patent and another related patent concerning interactive programs on websites.
Topics
Eolas Technologies, a company that went through a years-long patent-infringement lawsuit against Microsoft, has sued a large number of corporate powers for infringement of that same patent and another related patent concerning interactive programs on websites.
The list of defendants includes many high-profile companies inside and outside the tech world: Adobe, Amazon, Apple, Blockbuster, Citigroup, eBay, Frito-Lay, Go Daddy, Google, JC Penney, JPMorgan Chase, Office Depot, Perot Systems, Playboy Enterprises, Staples, Sun, Texas Instruments, Yahoo and YouTube.
The US District Court suit, filed in the eastern district of Texas, seeks preliminary and permanent injunctions prohibiting the plaintiffs from using the patented technology; payment for damages from infringement, including treble damages because the alleged infringement was willful; attorney's fees; and a jury trial.
For the full story, see Eolas sues corporate giants over Web technology at CNET News.com.
Talkback Most Recent of 12 Talkback(s)
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It was just a matter of time.
They didn't bleed enough from Microsoft so now they are going after other big names. No one is safe.
Erroneous7th Oct 2009 -
Two words:
Frivolous lawsuit.
Grayson Peddie7th Oct 2009 -
And they said...
...Eolas would only sue MS.
Stupid and blind indeed. The Eolas patent is particularly bad, but all software patents need to be eliminated. Just toss 'em all in the garbage can and revoke *all* of them.
Software is mathematics. Period. You can't patent mathematics. Or algorythms, come to that... 
wolf_z7th Oct 2009 -
As long as the big companies benefit, sw patents will be around.
Face it, for every Eolas, there are at least four or five big tech companies that get license money from software patents, including Microsoft, IBM, and Adobe. The Business Software Alliance (to whom all the big players belong) bribed the Congress, FTC, and Patent Office to play things their way. Unless it becomes a burden to them, software patents will stay as they are, DMCA will still be around, and copyright law will favor companies who own the rights to long-deceased authors.
Get used to it.
terry flores7th Oct 2009 -
So now we'll see...
...if "Eolas the hero" suddenly becomes "Eolas the villain" by doing exactly what it did before.
Carl Rapson
rapson7th Oct 2009 -
RE: Eolas sues tech giants over Web technology
And who didn't see this coming? Its funny how everyone wanted them to win against Microsoft and cheered them on, but now I don't hear anyone cheering anymore.
Loverock Davidson7th Oct 2009 -
Actually
Other than the regular predictable anti-MS zealots that post on boards such as these, most people DID see the writing on the wall and were hoping for an Eolas defeat.
Michael Kelly7th Oct 2009 -
Hip, hip hurrah!!! There - now you read it.
Just imagine hearing it.
No More Microsoft Software Ever!7th Oct 2009 -
It was fun when it was only Microsoft
that was to be sued, they "deserved it" was the phrase used.
Now it will not be so funny as many will claim that Adobe, Amazon, Apple, Blockbuster, Citigroup, eBay, Frito-Lay, Go Daddy, Google, JC Penney, JPMorgan Chase, Office Depot, Perot Systems, Playboy Enterprises, Staples, Sun, Texas Instruments, Yahoo and YouTube, the second round of defendants, do not deserve it.
And it is also time to remove the idiotic ability to sue everyone in Texas, a state where neither entity is located.
GuidingLight7th Oct 2009 -
Oh it's fun to watch them all be sued
level field of competition, they all are equal in the greed's eye.
So nobody bought up this company and/or its people and shipped it to the melting caps?
Boot_Agnostic7th Oct 2009 -
Buy it for how much?
Why sell for $100 million when you can sue for over a billion and still have ownership?
You'd have to pay over a billion dollars to convince them to sell. And who wants to spend that kind of money to kill their own reputation? In the end you're better off paying out only a couple hundred million and keeping your reputation intact.Michael Kelly7th Oct 2009 -
The earlier Microsoft case involved U.S. patent 5,838,906
"Distributed hypermedia method for automatically invoking external application providing interaction and display of embedded objects within a hypermedia document," which involved browsers launching a helper application such as Adobe Flash.
Could someone explain to me how Frito-Lay is infringing on this patent?Michael Kelly7th Oct 2009
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