Students know they can view the dimensions of a car, take a tour of a home, or play a game, all by moving their computer mouse on a Web page.

What students may not know is that the the University of California holds the patent to the technology that allows such interaction with applications on a Web browser. The UC is in danger of losing this patent.

An August verdict found Microsoft’s Internet technology violated the UC’s patent and awarded the UC and Eolas Technologies, the

company that licenses the patent, $520.6 million. Microsoft plans to appeal this verdict.

Despite this lawsuit, however, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is reconsidering the validity of the UC’s patent because members of the Internet industry claim similar technology existed before the patent, a claim known as “prior art.”

Michael Doyle, founder of Eolas Technologies, says he co-invented the patented technology as a researcher at UC San Francisco.

The new web technology was the first plug-in, which is an additional program that runs within a browser and allows the Internet user to view special content, Doyle said.

The UC patent covers a technology that allows applications to be embedded, or located, on a Web browser, allowing the Internet user to view and interact with content on the browser, such as a video or game.

Embedded applications on the Web page can employ popular programs such as

Apple Quicktime, Flash players, and Adobe Acrobat.

Before the invention of this technology, a web page could only display text and pictures, Doyle said. If an Internet user wanted to watch a video, for example, they would need a separate program.

In addition, the patented technology allows Internet users to interactively control the embedded applications.For example, a viewer can pause or play a video on a web browser or take a virtual tour of a home on a real-estate Web site because of this technology.

The UC patent has raised controversy among the Internet industry because of the widespread use of such technology.

Some industry members fear the patent may financially burden the industry because of the costs involved in altering software.

If the patent is upheld, those who use the technology will either need to pay licensing fees to the UC or rework their software.

“It seems to be posing a risk to the stability of the Web,” said Ian Jacobs, a spokesman for the World Wide Web Consortium.

“If enforced (the patent) would require changes to existing ... software. That would be disruptive.”

Microsoft Corporation is already making alterations to their software, said Jim Desler, a spokesman for the company.

“We believe that the minor changes that we made will have minimal impact on customers, consumers and users and won’t have

much impact on Microsoft’s business,” Desler said.