Linked by Thom Holwerda on Wed 12th Aug 2009 17:55 UTC, submitted by Laurence
In what some will undoubtedly call ironic, Microsoft has been declared guilty of wilfully infringing upon an XML patent held by the Canadian company i4i. The judge has ordered Microsoft to pay a fine of 290 million USD, and has barred Microsoft from selling Word in the United States if the company doesn't comply within 60 days (a detail omitted by many). Microsoft has already announced it will appeal the judge's decision.
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Member since:
2007-01-18
If we lived in a world where people payed attention to software this might frighten them into demanding a standardized open format that was not developed by Microsoft, but we don't. We live in a world where the said patent will be invalidated or if not Microsoft will find a work around that doesn't violate the patent. Either way Word and the .docx format will both continue.
What we really have here is apocalyptic story about how a dominate player is being brought down by the cracks in a system it has twisted for years. It's an awesome story for Hollywood, but in the end it's all just a bunch of money for lawyers and press for Microsoft.