Late on Tuesday 11th of August Microsoft were faced with the news that they were banned from selling Microsoft Word 2003 and 2007 in the United States and fined over $240m for violation of the US intellectual property laws.
The Toronto based firm i4i who are a collaborative content solution and Technology Company own a patent that covers a way of reading XML (extended mark up language) documents. They brought the lawsuit against Microsoft on the basis that they’re Microsoft word products can open XML, .DOC or DOCM files or better known as XML files. However XML is the basis of Microsoft’s Open XML document formats, and is used not only on Word but a number of Microsoft applications such as Vista and NET.Framework.
The question most people are debating is whether the injunction should have been passed in the first place… and Intellectual Property Law in the US or in the state of Texas is too fast to prosecute and over support patent lawsuits, so much so to earn the term “A haven for Patent Pirates”
It will be interesting to watch the progression of this case, as it may well prove to be a historical moment – due to the scale of the punishment, the high profile status and the already believed flawed intellectual property law system in the United States with regards to the issue of technology patents.
In some courts in the US and in particular the court in Texas that has issued the ban on Microsoft, are being accused of issuing patents that cover prior art, which should prevent them from being issued in the first place. Therefore it has been argued if something is not done about the procedure of issuing patents then the price of technology will keep rising and as a result putting more and more technology innovators in the US out of business. Therefore a revision of the law may well be the outcome of this high profile case!
What could happen to Microsoft?
If Microsoft do not either buy the rights for the use of XML or have the injunction over turned they will see a vast expenditure to redesign and redistribute not only Word but the whole Office package, and major distributors such as Dell and HP to name a few could see major disruption to their sales.
However to look at it from another point of view, Microsoft are the worlds dominating software manufacturer and the thought of not being able to buy a new copy of the Office may send the businesses and individuals of the United States in to a panic buying frenzy before the ban date in just under 60days!
