BY THE TIME the appeal process is exhaused, Microsoft might end up owing Eolas $1.3 billion, according to Bob Cringely in his column today.Cringely said that while Eolas won $520 million for breaching its patents last week, the real sum is already $620 million because of the time that's elapsed since the claim was made.
And as Microsoft intends to appeal, that could mean that Eolas might get a nice cash sum of around $13 billion, if it ultimately wins. Cringely, quoting Eolas' CEO, says he's sure it will win. He mentions another court case by Intertrust, against the Vole, over digital rights management which we covered earlier this year, which might mean Microsoft will have to cash up to the tune of billions of dollars, and he even thinks the Eurocratic Union could fine the firm up to $3 billion. All in all, that's a lot of money and the implications for Microsoft are greater than most people expect, he suggests.
Source:
http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20030821.html