A patent that critics say will vitiate the Web will be reexamined in a rare move by the U.S. Patent Office. The patent, No. 5,838,906 — or 906 for short — governs the embedding of components into Web pages, a practice that, among other things, enables use of such popular applications as RealAudio, Apple QuickTime, Macromedia Flash, Adobe Acrobat and Sun Microsystems Java. In its order issued October 30th, Deputy Commissioner Stephen G. Kunin found that “a substantial outcry from a widespread segment of the affected industry has essentially raised a question of patentability.”
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Feds To Take Second Look at Web Crippler Patent
Posted by: John P. Mello Jr. November 13, 2003 07:07 AMA patent that critics say will vitiate the Web will be reexamined in a rare move by the U.S. Patent Office. The patent, No. 5,838,906 — or 906 for short — governs the embedding of components into Web pages, a practice that, among other things, enables use of such popular applications as RealAudio, Apple QuickTime, Macromedia Flash, Adobe Acrobat and Sun Microsystems Java. In its order issued October 30th, Deputy Commissioner Stephen G. Kunin found that “a substantial outcry from a widespread segment of the affected industry has essentially raised a question of patentability.”