“The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has stepped squarely into a fight roiling the Web by agreeing to re-examine the Eolas patent for a browser plug-in, a development likely to bring cheer to Microsoft and software patent foes alike….

After Microsoft made public planned changes to I[nternet ]E[xplorer] that held the potential to break millions of Web sites, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) last month urged the USPTO to re-examine the so-called 906 patent in light of W3C technologies that it said predated Eolas’ patent….

The USPTO responded quickly to the W3C’s request, and on Oct. 30 the office initiated an order for re-examination. On Monday that order was docketed to the patent examiner.

‘A substantial outcry from a widespread segment of the affected industry has essentially raised a question of patentability with respect to the 906 patent claims,’ Stephen Kunin, the USPTO’s deputy commissioner for patent examination policy, wrote in his order for re-examination. ‘This creates an extraordinary situation for which a director-ordered examination is an appropriate remedy.’ “

The Stephen Kunin link is to an interview with him by the USPTO house organ - look for page 13 “The Patent Business–Part Three” in Acrobat Reader.