Microsoft appeals I4i XML case again – clearly doesn’t know when to give up

And there we all were thinking this case was over, that Microsoft had decided one lost appeal was enough and had decided to move on. But no, this is Microsoft we’re talking about, a company that doesn’t know how to lose. At least not gracefully.

In March 2007, Canadian company I4i filed a patent infringement against Microsoft seeking an injunction over the sale of Word and damages for infringement of a patent concerning the way XML (Extended Markup Language) documents are read.

On May 20, 2009, a judge ruled in favor of I4i and ordered the payment of $200 million in damages. In August, a permanent injunction was added, meaning Microsoft would no longer sell Word in its current iteration.

Microsoft unsurprisingly appealed the decision, and promptly lost that as well. The payout has now increased to $290 million and Microsoft has until Jan. 11 to stop selling Word.

It looked as though Microsoft had accepted the appeal court’s decision and that that was going to be the end of the whole sorry saga. But no, according to CNet, the company is now seeking another appeal hearing and wants the original decision thrown out.

Microsoft issued a statement saying:

Today Microsoft filed a petition with the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit for both panel rehearing and rehearing en banc in the I4i case. The petition details significant conflicts we believe the Dec. 22 decision creates with established precedents governing trial procedure and the determination of damages, and we are concerned that the decision weakens judges’ authority to apply appropriate safeguards in future patent trials.

Strangely, Microsoft has also agreed to abide by the injunction and is currently shipping new versions of Word and Office which have the custom XML feature stripped out. But it’s clearly not happy with the original or appeal court’s decision and is determined to keep fighting it until a judge says enough is enough.

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• Microsoft loses Word appeal, moves on
• Microsoft loses i4i appeal over use of XML
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