Patent wars are becoming as common for the tech world as the product releases. Three tech giants – Disney, Wal-Mart and Facebook – have now been hit with a patent lawsuit from a rather unexpected quarter – the University of California.
The lawsuit has actually been filed by Eolas Technologies which was founded to help the University of California commercialize its patents as well as to help the university develop newer technologies.
Eolas Technologies rose to fame in 2003 when it went after the software giant, Microsoft, over alleged patent infringement, and won a whopping $521 million as settlement from it. Now, the company is alleging that Facebook, Wal-Mart and Disney have infringed four of its interactive technology-related patents.
According to the University of California, the technology envisioned in these patents were public assets and that if someone was to make use of them to turn profit, they should give the university its due share. Facebook, on the other hand, has vehemently denied the allegations and has stated that it will fight up against them.
Wal-Mart, on the other hand, has issued a more nuanced response stating that it considered such allegations very serious in nature and that it was looking into the matter.
Whether or not the said four patents were actually infringed, we can be rest assured that it is going to take quite a while before the case is settled.
Courtesy: PC Mag
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