Microsoft loses i4i appeal over use of XML
Yes, another appeal. But this case still isn’t done and dusted, as Microsoft is still petitioning for an en banc review of the case. If that is unsuccessful then Microsoft could take its appeal to the Supreme Court. Basically, if you don’t succeed the first time, try again, and again and again.
This case dates all the way back to March 2007 when the Toronto-based technology company i4i filed a patent infringement against Microsoft over its use of XML (Extended Markup Language) in some versions of Word (namely Word 2003 and Word 2007).
On May 20, 2009, the judge presiding over the case ruled in i4i’s favor and awarded the company $200 million in damages. In August, an injunction was added to stop Microsoft from selling the affected versions of Word.
Microsoft appealed that decision but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld the original verdict in December. Microsoft did then abide by the injunction, and stopped selling affected versions of Word on Jan. 10, 2010. But at the same time as doing so the company launched a second appeal.
Unfortunately for Microsoft it has now lost that appeal as well, as BBC News reports. The three-man appeals court one again reiterated why the original verdict had been made and added that there was clear evidence that Microsoft had known about the i4i patent before the XML technology turned up in the Office word processor.
So that’s it, surely.
No. Microsoft is now pushing for an en banc review of the case which if granted means a much wider review of the findings happens. However, the chances of it being granted are low as less than 100 cases go this far each year. The decision is expected in six weeks. If it doesn’t go Microsoft’s way, the next (and last) step would be to take the case all the way to the Supreme Court.
Only a company as large and with as deep pockets as Microsoft would fight a verdict this far into the legal system. Can it possibly succeed in getting the original verdict overturned? And wouldn’t it just be easier at this stage to concede defeat and make the necessary changes to the affected versions of Word?
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