US court refuses Microsoft appeal on i4i patent suit
updated 03:25 pm EDT, Thu April 1, 2010
MS may be forced to pay i4i after failed appeal
Microsoft in a US federal court today was denied an appeal against the $290 million verdict against it following i4i's patent lawsuit. The decision forces Microsoft to either pay the promised damages or else take its case to the Supreme Court. Representatives haven't said if the company plans to follow this route.
The ruling potentially brings to a close a process ongoing since August, when it was found by a Texas court to have violated i4i's patents on using custom XML. When the verdict was upheld in January, it forced Microsoft to make a rare change to its software and disable custom XML in Office. The time taken to roll out the alterations left the company temporarily pulling most Windows versions of Office from store shelves.
Most of Microsoft's past legal defeats have come in antitrust battles, where it has sometimes been found to have abused its dominance with Windows to influence choices in software.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Aug 2001
Take it to the top!
MS should see if they can get the supreme court to overrule the whole concept of software patents and get us off this damn train ride.
Of course, knowing MS, they'd s**** it up and they'd end up making software patents even stronger.....