After Nearly 20 Years, the Eolas Patents are Dead
An East Texas appeals panel has effectively put a stop to the Eolas patents, which threatened the Web for nearly 20 years. A man named Michael Doyle, with the help of the University of California, gained a patent over essential Web technologies. He then founded a company called Eolas, which then spent years successfully collecting hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements from major technology companies, including Adobe, Amazon, and Apple. A Texas jury struck down the patents in 2012, and the subsequent appeal denial should end Eolas’ lawsuits forever.