Students know they can view the dimensions of a car, take a tour
of a home, or play a game, all by moving their computer mouse on a
Web page.
What students may not know is that the the University of
California holds the patent to the technology that allows such
interaction with applications on a Web browser. The UC is in danger
of losing this patent.
An August verdict found Microsoft’s Internet technology
violated the UC’s patent and awarded the UC and Eolas
Technologies, the
company that licenses the patent, $520.6 million. Microsoft
plans to appeal this verdict.
Despite this lawsuit, however, the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office is reconsidering the validity of the UC’s patent
because members of the Internet industry claim similar technology
existed before the patent, a claim known as “prior
art.”
Michael Doyle, founder of Eolas Technologies, says he
co-invented the patented technology as a researcher at UC San
Francisco.
The new web technology was the first plug-in, which is an
additional program that runs within a browser and allows the
Internet user to view special content, Doyle said.
The UC patent covers a technology that allows applications to be
embedded, or located, on a Web browser, allowing the Internet user
to view and interact with content on the browser, such as a video
or game.
Embedded applications on the Web page can employ popular
programs such as
Apple Quicktime, Flash players, and Adobe Acrobat.
Before the invention of this technology, a web page could only
display text and pictures, Doyle said. If an Internet user wanted
to watch a video, for example, they would need a separate
program.
In addition, the patented technology allows Internet users to
interactively control the embedded applications.For example, a
viewer can pause or play a video on a web browser or take a virtual
tour of a home on a real-estate Web site because of this
technology.
The UC patent has raised controversy among the Internet industry
because of the widespread use of such technology.
Some industry members fear the patent may financially burden the
industry because of the costs involved in altering software.
If the patent is upheld, those who use the technology will
either need to pay licensing fees to the UC or rework their
software.
“It seems to be posing a risk to the stability of the
Web,” said Ian Jacobs, a spokesman for the World Wide Web
Consortium.
“If enforced (the patent) would require changes to
existing … software. That would be disruptive.”
Microsoft Corporation is already making alterations to their
software, said Jim Desler, a spokesman for the company.
“We believe that the minor changes that we made will have
minimal impact on customers, consumers and users and won’t
have
much impact on Microsoft’s business,” Desler
said.