Microsoft and Eolas Settle Patent Dispute
Microsoft has settled its patent dispute with Eolas, ending eight years of litigation. The dispute was over the patent that makes Eolas such a successful patent troll, one for invoking external applications in a web browser, one that Eolas won once over Microsoft with a $521 million judgement that was never fulfilled.
Microsoft altered Internet Explorer to avoid Eolas’ patent (which is why you have to click to activate an ActiveX) control, plus Microsoft may have found a way to beat Eolas back in May of this year. According to Wikipedia, Microsoft was awarded a patent with almost the same wording as Eolas’, prompting the Patent Office to open arguments that Microsoft owned Eolas’ patent.
The circumstances of the case almost guarantee Microsoft paid less to settle this than the $521 million 2003 judgement. I would not be surprised if Eolas, eager to avoid losing its big patent, settled for considerably less. Microsoft will only say it paid $60-72 a share, but no one knows how many shares exist.
