ZDNet: Will {Internet Explorer} verdict {against Microsoft} snare others?

[Atlant]

(Emphasis added by Atlant)

http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5063444.html

Will browser verdict snare others?

By Paul Festa
CNET News.com
August 14, 2003, 4:00 AM PT

A patent-infringement judgment against Microsoft
and its Internet Explorer browser has raised
speculation over which company in the Web browser
market might be the next target of Microsoft's
pursuer.

Eolas Technologies, a University of California
spin-off with one employee, no products, a handful
of patents and 100 investors, on Monday prevailed
in its $521 million patent-infringement suit against
Microsoft.

Eolas originally filed suit against Microsoft in 1999,
alleging that the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant
infringed on its patents when enabling the Internet
Explorer Web browser to use plug-ins and applets.
A federal court in Chicago found that IE violated
Eolas' intellectual-property rights. Eolas has one
formal employee, Mike Doyle, who is a former
University of California researcher.

Since applets and plug-ins are also a key feature of
other Web browsers, the Eolas decision could affect
Microsoft's competitors in the browser market, such
as Oslo, Norway-based Opera Software and bands of
volunteer developers contributing to open-source
groups like Mozilla.org and KDE (K Desktop
Environment).

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