Patently mad
Microsoft has received a judgment from the US Supreme Court in its long-running parent dispute with i4i Inc. and has been found unanimously in dispute of patents held by the Canadian company. As a result Microsoft will now have to pay $290 million in damages to i4i.
In 2007 i4i filed against Microsoft, on the basis that Word 2003 and 2007 both infringed on a number of XML-related patents held by i4i. i4i was awarded $290 million in damages, in addition to having Microsoft banned from selling the infringing software.The latter outcome is no longer so significant, as the versions of Word which infringed on i4i's patents are no longer current, but the fine will still put a dent in Microsoft's financials - for which the Company says it is prepared.
Microsoft disputed the filing, claiming that the patents held by i4i are invalid, but was unsuccessful in its appeals in Texas - in which state it was originally filed against - and so took its complaints to the Supreme Court, in the hope of having the first ruling overturned.
In tangentially relates news, Apple has filed a motion to intervene in the filing by Lodsys against a number of iOS developers. If allowed to intervene, Apple has already included its counter-claim against Lodsys, which broadly states that developers are covered by Apple's licencing agreement with Lodsys, and don't need to license Lodsys's patents from it independently. Lodsys has the option to oppose Apple's motion, but the precedent appears to be on Apple's side.
