Microsoft To Pay Damages To Canadian Firm For Patent Infringement
A jury in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (Court) has ruled against Microsoft Corp (Microsoft) for willfully infringing US Patent 5,787,449 owned by a Toronto firm, i4i LP (i4i). On May 20, 2009, Microsoft was found liable to pay US $200 million in damages resulting from lost profits and royalties, and the amount could be later increased by the judge if there is a finding of willful infringement.
i4i’s patent involves a method to manipulate separately the format and the content of a document. Specifically, it combines the formatting rules of the document (metacode) and information regarding the application of the rules to the content (addresses) together in one file, while the content of the document is stored in a separate file. Separating form and content in this way simplifies and automates formatting changes.
i4i alleged that Microsoft infringed its patent in the 2003 and 2007 versions of Microsoft WORD; and specifically in the way it customized its use of “extensible markup language” or XML in that software.
Patent trial decisions against large technology companies have not been uncommon in Tyler, Texas. Verdicts include these awards (all figures are in $US): $115 million against Microsoft to z4 Technology in April 2006; $21 million against Nintendo to Anascape in July 2008, and $18.8 million against Sony to Agere in November 2008.
Microsoft intends to appeal the verdict.
For articles concerning the Microsoft and i4i verdict, see:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10245764-56.html and
Summary by: Darren Hall
