Microsoft, Google Sue Troll Who Sued 397 Companies

FlorianMueller writes "Microsoft and Google have teamed up against a company that holds a geotagging patent and sued 397 companies last year in Texas, most of them in mid December. ... Now the two tech giants have entered the fray together and want the patent declared invalid and seek an injunction to prevent further lawsuits over it. Since the patent holder has already filed for an initial public offering, this intervention may come at just the right time to prevent the worst. Google and Microsoft say that there was prior art when the patent on an 'Internet organizer for accessing geographically and topically based information' was applied for in 1996."

Comments

Re:Temperatures plummet in Hades

[xmas2003]

Yea, certainly unusual to see these the Big "G" and M working together ...

Makes me wonder if something about the patent might actually worry 'em?!?

1996

[MrEricSir]

The patent was applied for in 1996? 15 years in internet time is like 5 decades in other fields.

Back then, you were likely running Windows 95 and had to launch Real Player 1.0 to listen to audio online. IE and Netscape were both products you had to pay for (IE came with MS Plus!)

Should a patent from that era really still be valid?