Microsoft has easy options to solve Word legal woes
Microsoft was last week hit by an injunction stating it could no longer sell Word, an integral part of Microsoft Office, in its current form. This was due to a patent infringement lawsuit by i4i concerning XML. However, it looks as though the situation isn’t as serious as first thought and Microsoft could have a couple of very easy options to solve the legal woes.
Two years ago, a Toronto-based company called i4i filed a patent infringement against Microsoft over how XML (Extended Markup Language) documents are read. I4i claimed Microsoft had used its patent in the custom XML options in Word and went to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas seeking damages and an injunction. Both of which it duly received.
As well as awarding $200 million in damages, the judge ordered a permanent injunction effectively banning Microsoft from selling Word in the States while it has “the capability of opening .XML, .DOCX or DOCM files (XML files) containing custom XML.” The injunction comes into effect on October 12, 2009.
According to PC World, i4i founder Michael Vulpe has stated he’d be happy to discuss a licensing arrangement with Microsoft. Or, if the price were right, Microsoft could even buy the company from him and obtain the patents it owns. However, seeing as that offer has existed since 2000 and not been taken up in nine years, I suspect it won’t be Microsoft’s first choice of direction.
What may be more appealing to Microsoft is the “easy technical work-around” Computerworld reports patent attorney Barry Negrin as suggesting. He states that the use of XML in Word 2003 and Word 2007 is covered by the $200 million in damages. So it has effectively been paid for. Instead, Negrin states that Microsoft only has to worry about the version being sold after October 12, and that is easily sorted.
All Microsoft has to do is disable the custom XML feature, which should be pretty easy to do, then give that a different SKU number from what’s been sold so it’s easy to distinguish the two versions.
In the end though, it looks as if Microsoft will first do everything in its powers to get the decision overturned. An appeal is almost guaranteed, and only if that proves unsuccessful will the company have to make a decision about what to do to resolve the issue once and for all. It seems likely that whatever the eventual outcome, consumers won’t be affected.
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