ABSTRACT: Patents: Too Easy to Get, Too Hard to Challenge?

Andrew Updegrove

1/01/2005
(Original Publish Date: 2003)

When Eolas defeated Microsoft in a suit that involved HTML, even hard-core Microsoft critics found themselves rallying around their opponent. The W3C appealed for relief, and the PTO agreed to review the offending patent. Less noticed was the release of a major report by the Federal Trade Commission, in which the FTC recommends major patent reforms.