CNET: Feds reject Eolas browser patent

In a very rare move, the U.S. Patent Office invalidated the Eolas patent that caused a half-billion-dollar judgment against Microsoft and forced the software giant to start to change its browser in ways that would be very interruptive of many Internet browsing experiences. The changes could have also caused havoc in the ad serving community, particularly when rich media was involved.

The patent - now recognized as having been inappropriately issued to cover technology that already existed - covered the automatic play feature of much online rich media.

Despite the victory for the status quo, many ad serving companies, rich media firms and other relevant parties, have had to make expensive and intensive software changes in anticipation of Microsoft's release of a browser that failed to let Flash, Java and other forms of rich media automatically play upon initial download.