This just in from Ars Technica:

[A] Federal appeals court has overturned part of a lower court decision awarding Eolas US$521 million in damages for patent infringement by Microsoft. The case revolved around the use of browser add-ons such as plug-ins, ActiveX controls, and applets, which Eolas (a spinoff of the University of California) claimed were covered under patents granted in the mid 1990s. …

In its decision, the US Court of Appeals said that the jury’s verdict ignored some of Microsoft’s key arguments, and that the case should be sent back to the District Court for retrial. Given the decision of the US Patent and Trademark Office last year on the validity of the patents in question, Eolas’ prospects in a second trial do not look good.

Access the full-text judgment here.

Source: Ars Technica