[A2k] Patent Office Grants PUBPAT Requests to Reexamine EpicRealm Dynamic Website Patents

[Soenke Zehle]

PATENT OFFICE GRANTS PUBPAT REQUESTS TO REEXAMINE EPICREALM DYNAMIC
WEBSITE PATENTS: Government Finds PUBPAT Raised 'Substantial Questions'
Regarding Patent Licensing Company's Widely Asserted Patents

New York, NY -- January 29, 2007 -- The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office
has granted each of the Public Patent Foundation's ("PUBPAT") formal
requests to review two patents held by EpicRealm Licensing Inc. that the
patent licensing company is widely asserting against providers of
dynamic websites, i.e. websites that can produce custom responses to
individual visitors or users.  In its filings, PUBPAT had submitted
prior art that the Patent Office was not aware of when reviewing the
applications that led to the two patents and described in detail how the
prior art invalidates the patents.  The Patent Office found that
PUBPAT's filings indeed raised "substantial questions" regarding the
validity of the EpicRealm patents.

Despite no longer making any product or service itself, EpicRealm is
asserting the patents against those that provide information and
services to the public over the internet, a group which includes many
private citizens, public service organizations and even the U.S. Patent
and Trademark Office itself.  EpicRealm's assertion of the patents has
included the filing of infringement lawsuits against more than a dozen
mere end users of allegedly infringing web site systems.  PUBPAT
challenged the patents because EpicRealm's aggressive assertion of them
is causing substantial public harm by threatening the way in which much
of the most useful aspects of the Web are provided to the public.
Having now granted PUBPAT's requests to review the patents, the Patent
Office will turn to decide whether the patents deserve to exist or not.

"EpicRealm is yet another example of the growing trend of businesses
whose sole purpose and activity is to sue others for patent
infringement, but the fact that they are claiming rights over the vast
majority of websites based on these patents that the Patent Office has
now found have substantial issues relating to their validity only makes
the matter that much more unsettling," said Dan Ravicher, PUBPAT's
Executive Director.  "Perhaps some day soon Congress will fix the patent
system so that such exploitation cannot occur.  In the interim, with
respect to these specific patents, now that the Patent Office has looked
at the new evidence we provided and agreed with us that there is
substantial doubt about the worthiness of the patents, we expect that
the Patent Office will withdraw the patents from issuance."

Copies of the U.S. Patent Office's Orders Granting PUBPAT's Requests for
Reexamination against the two patents EpicRealm is widely asserting
dynamic websites can be found at
http://www.pubpat.org/epicrealmdynamicwebsites.htm.

Contact:

Daniel Ravicher, Executive Director
Public Patent Foundation
(212) 796-0570
info@pubpat.org

About the Public Patent Foundation

The Public Patent Foundation ("PUBPAT") is a not-for-profit legal
services organization working to protect the public from the harms
caused by the patent system, particularly the harms caused by undeserved
patents and unsound patent policy.  PUBPAT provides the general public
and those specific persons or businesses otherwise deprived of access to
the system governing patents, with representation, advocacy, and
education.  To be kept informed of PUBPAT News, subscribe to the PUBPAT
News List by visiting http://www.pubpat.org.  To be removed from the
PUBPAT News List, send an email with "unsubscribe" in the subject line
to news-request@pubpat.org.

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