After a reign of terror lasting nearly two decades, the patent troll Eolas has been brought low. Its bullshit patent on “interactive features” of the Web — which was filed six years after Tim Berners-Lee actually invented the stuff it laid claim to — was used to suck millions out of companies from Microsoft to Yahoo and Amazon. A judge has ruled what everyone knew — the patents were without merit and the lawsuits were just money-spinners for “inventors” whose only product was litigation. Good riddance, Eolas, and see you in Hell.
Under Doyle’s conception of his own invention, practically any modern website owed him royalties. Playing a video online or rotating an image on a shopping website were “interactive” features that infringed his patents.
And unlike many “patent trolls” who simply settle for settlements just under the cost of litigation, Doyle’s company had the chops, the lawyers, and the early filing date needed to extract tens of millions of dollars from the accused companies.
Eolas had kept filing lawsuits even after its trial loss, with cases against Disney, ESPN, ABC, Facebook, and Wal-Mart on hold awaiting the outcome of this appeal; those are all but doomed. Those lawsuits had asserted the two invalidated patents as well as two new ones, but the two newer patents both incorporate Eolas’ first patent.
The Web’s longest nightmare ends: Eolas patents are dead on appeal [Joe Mullin/Ars Technica]