x88x
10-01-2010, 11:13 AM
Interesting mainly because of who it involves, but it could provide some very appealing case law.
Basically, some random company (i4i) sued Microsoft for something about Office 2007's XML editing capabilities, and they've been fighting them tooth and nail..and losing..all the way through many lower courts and most recently the Federal Circuit Court. Microsoft is now appealing the case to the Supreme Court, largely challenging the current requirements for getting a patent thrown out. As a result of this, they have acquired two rather unexpected allies in the fight; the EFF and the Apache software foundation!
It'll be an interesting , especially if they win. I think Microsoft might be shooting themselves in the foot though, as they hold quite a few patents that I think could be easily thrown out under the new rules they're shooting for.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/10/strange-bedfellows-eff-apache-back-microsoft-in-patent-dispute.ars
The only article (http://www.itworldcanada.com/news/texas-court-orders-microsoft-to-pay-toronto-firm-200-million-/109710) I turned up in a quick search that said anything about what features they're actually disputing had this. Far from specific, but it sounds like BS to me.
The technology that the court said infringes on the i4i patent enables custom XML tagging in Word 2003 and Word 2007, used mainly for people creating and modifying templates for Word documents.
i4i would not get into the details of how Microsoft's products had infringed on the Toronto company's technology but Mike Cannata, another i4i director said they will continue to vigorously protect their intellectual property.
Basically, some random company (i4i) sued Microsoft for something about Office 2007's XML editing capabilities, and they've been fighting them tooth and nail..and losing..all the way through many lower courts and most recently the Federal Circuit Court. Microsoft is now appealing the case to the Supreme Court, largely challenging the current requirements for getting a patent thrown out. As a result of this, they have acquired two rather unexpected allies in the fight; the EFF and the Apache software foundation!
It'll be an interesting , especially if they win. I think Microsoft might be shooting themselves in the foot though, as they hold quite a few patents that I think could be easily thrown out under the new rules they're shooting for.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/10/strange-bedfellows-eff-apache-back-microsoft-in-patent-dispute.ars
The only article (http://www.itworldcanada.com/news/texas-court-orders-microsoft-to-pay-toronto-firm-200-million-/109710) I turned up in a quick search that said anything about what features they're actually disputing had this. Far from specific, but it sounds like BS to me.
The technology that the court said infringes on the i4i patent enables custom XML tagging in Word 2003 and Word 2007, used mainly for people creating and modifying templates for Word documents.
i4i would not get into the details of how Microsoft's products had infringed on the Toronto company's technology but Mike Cannata, another i4i director said they will continue to vigorously protect their intellectual property.