Man Claims to Have Invented the Web – Files Lawsuit

Lawsuits can potentially damage the reputation of a company in the eyes of the public, but it is possible to lessen the sting with good PR. In the case of Eolas Technologies, however, there may be no redeemable qualities. The company, founded by biologist Michael Doyle, is suing numerous major Internet companies based on the claim that it invented the web and holds the patent for it.

When rumors spread that Al Gore claimed to have invented the Internet, we all got a chuckle out of it, but when a software patent based solely on the ideas behind the “interactive web” threatens to rip apart the very fabric of the Internet, it is no laughing matter. The headline on the Wired magazine article about this lawsuit referred to Doyle as a “patent troll” and warned that he “might win”. If history is any indication, that might be true.

In 1999, Eolas sued Microsoft over a claim that Microsoft Internet Explorer infringed on its patents. The federal court ordered Microsoft to pay $521 million to Eolas, money Doyle claimed they would use to further their research. But there is no evidence that Eolas research every produced anything of value.

In 1993, Eolas demonstrated what it claimed was the world’s first web browser (a claim contested by Pei-Yuan Wei who created the Viola browser in 1992). The Eolas browser was never sold or distributed to the public. In 2005, Doyle created a $39.95 primitive multimedia doodling application, supposedly with the intentions of giving 60 percent of proceeds to  victims of Hurricane Katrina.  Beyond that, the company’s only claim to fame are patents, which now threaten to dismantle the web.

Many companies such as Apple and IBM hold numerous software patents, and they have caused their fair share of outrage in the U.S. and European Union, but in most cases those patents were at least based on actual working software, whereas Eolas has none and has contributed nothing to the web.

Despite this, Eolas filed suit against 20 companies in 2009, including Apple, Blockbuster, eBay, and even Playboy for allegedly infringing on its “interactive web” patent, resulting in large settlements. Now, Doyle is going after Google, Yahoo, Amazon, and others hoping to get an even bigger payout. The true father of the web, Tim Berners-Lee has even been flown to the Texas court to testify.

Like the toll-bridge troll of legends, Eolas hopes to collect royalties on its “invention”, opening up the possibility for litigation on any company that starts a website with patented “interactive web” technology.