[Discussioni]newsscan

[Francesco Potorti`]

PATENT OFFICE RECONSIDERS CONTROVERSIAL NET PATENT
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is taking the unusual step of 
reconsidering a patent awarded to three University of California 
researchers in 1998. Patent No. 5,838,906 covers technology used to build 
small interactive programs into Web pages, potentially affecting everything 
from banner ads to interactive customer service. The patent's validity was 
invoked by Eolas Technologies (which was founded by one of the inventors 
and has licensed the patent exclusively) in its lawsuit against Microsoft. 
That legal action resulted in a $520 million jury award in favor of Eolas 
and prompted Microsoft to pledge a redesign of its Internet Explorer 
browser to avoid further infringement, a move that Web creator Tim 
Berners-Lee says could "render millions of Web pages and many products of 
independent software developers incompatible." Deputy patent commissioner 
Stephen G. Kunin cited "a substantial outcry from a widespread segment of 
the affected industry" in his decision to reexamine the patent and noted 
that patent examiners may not have adequately considered "prior art" in 
their investigations. (AP 12 Nov 2003)
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20031112/D7UP8FP82.html