SBC enforcing all-encompassing Web patent

This IP item emerged last week:

SBC Communications Inc is enforcing a patent it owns that, it claims, covers the use of frame-like user interfaces in web sites According to an SBC letter published by MuseumTour.com, which was the first to disclose SBC was demanding license fees, simply using an interface that remains on-screen while a user navigates the site could constitute infringement of US patents 5,933,841 and 6,442,574, both entitled "Structured Document Browser".

SBC is asking between $527 and $16.6m per year to license the patented technology, depending on the annual revenue of the company concerned and what kind of license they sign up for.

http://news.com.com/2100-1023-981446.html?tag=cd_mh

Eric Schnell
Assistant Professor
Head, Information Technology Services
Prior Health Sciences Library
The Ohio State University
schnell.9[_at_]osu.edu / 614-292-4870
http://bones.med.ohio-state.edu/eric.html

"You see, I don't believe that libraries should be drab places where people sit in silence, and that's been the main reason for our policy of employing wild animals as librarians." --Monty Python's Flying Circus Received on Mon Jan 27 2003 - 15:42:48 GMT