Microsoft Loses Patent Case…Again

The U.S. Federal Court of Appeals again upheld a jury’s verdict saying that Microsoft “willfully infringed on a patent awarded to i4i.” The verdict was originally affirmed in December and Microsoft was to pay about $240 million in damages. They were also supposed to remove a specific feature of Microsoft Word 2007 starting in January. The original charge of patent infringement was brought against Microsoft by i4i due to a feature in Word 2003 and 2007 that lets you create custom XML documents.

This latest ruling pretty much echoed the original, except for key details regarding Microsoft’s “willfulness” in committing the crime. This is where things get interesting. Apparently, Microsoft employees were present at a demonstration of the i4i software. They were given sales kits which blatantly identified the fact that the i4i technology was patented.

Given these facts, Microsoft couldn’t possibly claim they had no idea what they were doing, but that’s not even the end of it. Internal documents from Microsoft show that they wanted to make i4i’s product “obsolete” and assure there won’t be a need for [i4i's] product.” If this doesn’t prove that Microsoft intentionally and “willfully” violated this patent, I don’t know what does. The panel seems to agree.

Still, Microsoft is requesting an en banc review, so all of the appeals court judges will take a look at the case and decide if they will reconsider it. There is no time-frame on how long the judges have to reach a decision on the review itself. If the en banc review is denied, Microsoft can take the matter to the Supreme Court.

There are at least two sides to every story, but it seems pretty obvious that Microsoft was in the wrong here. They must really want to avoid paying that $240 million in damages to keep pushing things so far. I’m sure they’re racking up legal fees as well. It seems that, rather than admit they infringed on the patent, Microsoft is simply saying the patent is invalid.

“The evidence clearly demonstrated that we do not infringe and that the i4i patent is invalid,” a Microsoft spokesman said. “We believe this award of damages is legally and factually unsupported, so we will ask the court to overturn the verdict.” (via Reuters)

About the Author
Rahsheen has been a certified geek since before it was the thing to do. He started programming and tinkering in the 4th grade. Now, Rahsheen mostly writes on various sites about technology trends in social media and mobile. . He is also a musician, singer, rapper, writer, and producer. @rahsheen - +Rahsheen Porter - coachrah.com
See all posts by rahsheen.