On appeal, the patents of the firm Eolas in the field of interactive elements on a web page re-declared to be invalid. This seem to be the attempts of the company to licentiegelden of almost all technology companies to obtain to beaches.
The judgment was pronounced by a federal court, confirming the judgment previously pronounced by a lower court, reports Ars Technica on the basis of rechtbankdocumenten. By the ruling appear to be the patents of Eolas that techniques for interactive web elements describe the final void to be declared.
The judgment of the lower court was in February last year, pronounced in a case against 22 internet companies, including Adobe, Amazon, Apple, eBay and Google. Eolas then went in appeal, but this was ultimately to no avail. However, Eolas in september last year, the companies Disney, Facebook, and Walmart sued for patentschending. The two patents that now by the federal court are invalid declared, were also in this lawsuit. Eolas however, in the lawsuit against Disney, Facebook, and Walmart still other patents, which the outcome is uncertain.
Eolas is concerned with the managing of his patentportfolio, which it licensed from the university of California. Because the patents are used to court cases, to commence and so licentiegelden to enforce, allows the company to book as a ‘patent troll’. The invalidation of the patents concerning interactive web elements has consequences for Eolas, so probably hundreds of millions of dollars to licentiegelden goes wrong.