As a result of a recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Interactive Gift Express v. Compuserve, Inc., companies that utilize a certain method to allow customers to download products online may be liable for patent infringement. If the plaintiff, now known as E-Data, Corp., successfully enforces a patent that encompasses downloading software over the Internet, the company could potentially require licensing agreements and the payment of licensing fees for all Internet software downloads. This is a big deal — according to Carl Oppedahl, attorney for one of the defendants, who reportedly stated that E-Data would become “wealthier than Microsoft” if it prevails in this patent litigation.
THE FREENY PATENT
