tabbed interface patent

It looks like the strategy is to go after the smaller sites that do not
have the legal resources of an amazon or borders books.

http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,57344,00.html
Site Protests Telco Patent Claim
By Joanna Glasner

…the homepage, which features colorful photos of sample products flanked
by navigation buttons on top and down the left margin, resembles dozens of
other e-commerce websites.

That's why Eichinger was caught off guard last week when she received a
letter from the intellectual property division of telecommunications giant
SBC alleging that the Museum Tour site violates two of its patents.

The letter, signed by Harlie Frost, president of SBC Intellectual
Property, alleges that the Museum Tour site infringes on related patents
filed in 1996 covering what the company calls a "structured document
browser."

According to SBC, the Museum Tour site uses several of its patented
navigation features, including "selectors of tabs that correspond to
specific locations in your site document" and "are not lost when a
different part of the document is displayed to the user."

…

Eichinger, however, believes… SBC's claims refer to design features in
her site, such as frames, that were in the public domain before the company
received its patent.

"If we're in jeopardy, then so is Amazon and so is Borders Books and
Lands' End and everyone who does e-commerce," she said.