Web operators look to 'prior art' to avoid patent law
5 November 2003
A number of companies and groups operating on the Internet are hoping to use older technologies to avoid certain patent laws, a legal concept known as 'prior art'.
Current patent laws threaten to enforce significant restrictions upon larger outfits in as far as existing patents held by smaller operators can limit their actions.
In one recent example Microsoft was found guilty of violating a patent held by a far smaller firm, Eolas Technologies. The '906 patent describes a way that a web browser can call up a separate application from within a web page.
The patent infringement saw Eolas win $521 million (£310 million). Since then Microsoft has detailed plans to change its Internet Explorer browser, which could in turn force many web developers to rewrite their web pages.
The case has generated controversy within the Internet community, some believing that companies have no case to appeal patent infringements on prior art grounds.
'There are a number of cases in point where companies like Microsoft essentially cloned other people's innovations, and they had no recourse,' commented Eolas founder Mike Doyle, according to the Globe and Mail.
'A lot of the public sentiment you're hearing now is the result of a well-funded public relations campaign,' he added.
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