[DMCA-Activists] W3C files at USPTO Re 'Eolas' Patent

[Seth Johnson]

(Forwarded from Interesting People list)

-----Original Message-----
From: Dave Farber <address@hidden>
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 12:33:46 -0500
Subject: [IP] W3C files at the US Patent & Trademark Office regarding 
the 'Eolas' patent]


Delivered-To: address@hidden
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 11:28:49 -0500
From: Daniel Weitzner <address@hidden>
Subject: W3C files at the US Patent & Trademark Office regarding the 
Eolas' patent
To: Dave Farber <address@hidden>


[for IP if you like - danny]

World Wide Web Consortium Presents US Patent Office with Evidence 
Invalidating Eolas Patent

http://www.w3.org -- 29 October 2003 -- The World Wide Web Consortium 
(W3C), the global standard-setting body for the Web, has presented the 
United States Patent and Trademark Office with prior art establishing 
that US Patent No. 5,838,906 (the '906 patent) is invalid and should 
therefore be re-examined in order to eliminate this unjustified 
impediment to the operation of the Web. The W3C is urging US Under 
Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property James E. Rogan to 
initiate a re-examination of the patent because the critical prior art 
was neither considered at the time the patent was initially examined 
and granted, nor during recent patent infringement litigation.

In an unprecedented step, Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and inventor 
of the Web, sent a letter today to Under Secretary Rogan requesting 
that his office reinvestigate the matter. "W3C urges the USPTO to 
initiate a reexamination of the '906 patent in order to prevent 
substantial economic and technical damage to the operation of World 
Wide Web," stated Berners-Lee. "The impact of this patent will be felt 
not only by those who are alleged to directly infringe, but all whose 
web pages and application rely on the stable, standards-based 
operation of browsers threatened by this patent. In many cases, those 
who will be forced to incur the cost of modifying Web pages or 
software applications do not even themselves infringe the patent - 
assuming it is even valid.

Letter Urging Action: http://www.w3.org/2003/10/27-rogan.html

Detailed Filing: http://www.w3.org/2003/10/301-filing.html


--
Daniel J. Weitzner                              +1.617.253.8036 (MIT)
World Wide Web Consortium                       +1.202.364.4750 (DC)
Technology & Society Domain Leader              <address@hidden>
http://www.w3.org/People/Weitzner.html

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