WebProNews

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) ruled in favor of the University of California and their offshoot Eolas Technology and against Microsoft in a patent case that's been floating around for nearly a decade.

Back in 1999, Eolas and the University of California went after Microsoft for patent infringement over certain plug-ins and applets and the way Internet Explorer used them. Initially, the USPTO ruled in favor of EOLAS and a jury awarded them over $500 million in damages in 2003.

The case went to an appeals court and they sided partially in favor of Microsoft. They sent the case back to the USPTO and said the Redmond software company should be able to present evidence that similar inventions happened before the Eolas patent. The USPTO review the information again and said no to Microsoft.

According to ZDNet, Microsoft's spokesperson said, "This is disappointing news, but we remain committed to seeing this case through to a successful resolution."

Microsoft had recently had a bit of luck in the patent department over some disputes with Apple over their iPod. Whether Microsoft will attempt to take this further is unknown although the only other place to go would be the Supreme Court of the United States. Microsoft also just go hammered with a decision from the EU over certain monopolistic behaviors. They avoided that decision in a U.S. appeals court several years ago.

John Stith is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.