Is it April fools day?

[eddie]

Time heals all wounds and time wounds all heels.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-10308013-75.html

[LinuxMint-4]

I just found out about it

http://vista.blorge.com/2009/08/12/micr ... ment-69842

[dann]

What I wonder is if Microsoft settles, and they probably will for some amount of money, what will be the ramifications for OpenOffice which has support for the Microsoft OOXML formats?

[eddie]

There has to be a ton of prior art. Personally I think the xml format is a joke, but that is another issue. Since open office is not sold per se, I can not see any monetary gain involved. I would dare them to go after Larry Ellison and Oracle......
The xml format reminds me of the old Navy dif files.


-------------------------------------------------------------------
Apple ipod touch $300
MS Zune $300
Amazon Kindle $300
Upgrading a used free laptop that will do what the Ipod, Zune, and Kindle will do. $30
Not needing drm, Ipod, Zune, or the Kindle. Priceless......

[LinuxMint-4]

Microsoft lawyer trickery cost an extra $40 million in Word case

http://vista.blorge.com/2009/08/14/micr ... word-case/

Court records in the Microsoft Word/XML case show that Microsoft lawyers cost the firm an extra $40 million through shady practice. The trial judge added the penalty to a jury award after concluding the firm repeatedly misrepresented the law.

The jury had awarded i4i $200 million in damages after the court ruled that Microsoft had violated a patent in the way it incorporated XML documents into Word. Judge Leonard Davis added $50 million in costs and an extra $40 million as “enhancement” (that is, punishment) for the courtroom chicanery.

Davis wrote in his ruling that Microsoft’s arguments “were persistent, legally improper, and in direct violation of the Court’s instructions.” In particular he objected to a lawyer comparing the case to the banking crisis and likening i4i to a bank seeking a bailout.

Commentators are divided about what move is best for Microsoft to take next. The firm has 60 days to reach a settlement or have the verdict overturned; after that point it will not be allowed to sell Word in the US in its current form.

Michael Vulpe, i4i’s founder, says the firm isn’t for sale (though doesn’t rule it out if the price is right) but says it is willing to license the relevant technology. He notes this option has been available to Microsoft for the past nine years.

Meanwhile the Seattle Post-Intelligencer believes Microsoft will appeal against the verdict and as ask a federal appeal to court to put the deadline on hold until an appeal is completed.

Opinion seems divided on how well an appeal would likely fare. One school of thought has it that Microsoft will easily be able to successfully argue that the patent is too vague to be enforceable. A rival theory says such arguments rarely succeed as they require an appeal court to declare that patent officials erred in their original decision.

[Miko]

This is all Bull$h*t !
A few years ago Alcatel-Lucent was awarded $1.5 Billion from Microsoft in a mp3 patent infringement case http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcatel-Lu ... _Microsoft
Of course no-one ever believed that M$ high paid lawyers wouldn't get them of the hook in the appeal.

No-one really believes that they won't win this time ether.

I would hope this case would demonstrate the absurdity of software patents to big businesses like M$ and Apple inc. but as long as they can get their own way by throwing money and lawyers at the problem then I doubt it.

i4i didn't invent XML just a way of reading it! It's like me saying that I didn't invent English writing but I've invented a way of reading it using your eyeballs and now everytime anyone reads a book they're breaching my patent, and the fact that people could read books before my patent doesn't mean that I didn't invent reading ( well in eastern Texas anyway).

I hate M$ as much as any Linux user but hey! in this case they are innocent victims of a patent troll. ( yeah I know, M$ and innocent in the same sentence, who'd have thought?)

i4i sounds like eye for (an) eye, which reminds me of the Martin Luther King quote "The old law of an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind."

[LinuxMint-4]

http://vista.blorge.com/2009/08/17/micr ... egal-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.
__________________________________________________________________________________________

http://vista.blorge.com/2009/08/17/micr ... word-case/


Microsoft has filed a secretive motion in the ongoing court case involving its incorporation of XML files in Word. The motion appears to be an attempt to buy more time to either negotiate a settlement or take the case to appeal.

[LinuxMint-4]

The Saga continues..........................


Microsoft threatens ‘massive disruptions’ over Word ban

http://tech.blorge.com/Structure:%20/20 ... -word-ban/



In its appeal of the impending injunction against selling Word, Microsoft claims that the injunction will cause “massive disruptions” to distribution and “irreparable harm” to the company.

A U.S. District Court judge levied the injunction against Microsoft’s Word software after finding that it violates a patent held by i4i technologies. At issue is Word’s ability to act as an editor for XML documents which is covered by i4i’s patent.

The judge gave Microsoft 60 days to remove the feature or the company will have to stop selling Word as of Oct. 10. Although Microsoft is working on removing the offending feature from Word that the deadline puts an unfair burden on the company.

The injunction will not only prevent sales of Microsoft Word, but of the complete Office Suite of tools as well. Microsoft’s appeal says this will not only disrupt its sales, but those of its distribution partners as well.

Microsoft’s appeal cites disruptions to its OEM partners such as HP and Dell as well as retail channels like Best Buy. These companies would be forced to stop selling the software packages and installing them on new PCs.

The irreparable harm that Microsoft cites would likely come as these partners find alternatives to Microsoft Word in order to satisfy customer demand. If these companies were to turn to a free and open source software package such as OpenOffice, their sales would decrease substantially.

Once customers try other free solutions, there’s a chance that they will never return as Microsoft Office users. This would cause long-term implications as Microsoft’s core customer base could shrink substantially.

Is it an unfair burden for Microsoft to respect other companies’ intellectual property? Microsoft’s violation of i4i’s patent may well have caused irreparable harm to the company that had the original idea for this feature.