Retrial of $521 million ruling against Microsoft postponed
JESSICA MINTZ AP Technology Writer
(AP) - SEATTLE-The retrial of a 2003 lawsuit that found Microsoft Corp. infringed on Web browser patents, which was set to start Monday, has been postponed until the end of August.
In the meantime, Microsoft said it is pursuing a settlement.
A federal court in Chicago ordered Microsoft to pay $521 million for copying technology developed by Michael Doyle, Eolas Technologies Inc.'s chairman, while he was at the University of California at San Francisco. The university owns the patent, which helps embed small interactive programs - plug-ins or applets - into Web pages; Eolas has exclusive marketing rights.
Parts of that decision were reversed in 2005. A federal appeals court said the jury should have been allowed to consider Microsoft's "prior art" argument, that the Eolas patent is invalid because someone else had already invented the technology.
"We are in active discussions with Eolas Technologies regarding a possible settlement. We are hopeful that we can resolve our dispute amicably," Microsoft spokesman Jack Evans said in an e-mail Tuesday.
Attorneys at Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi, the Minneapolis firm that represents Chicago-based Eolas, did not immediately return a call for comment.
