Key Issues

Microsoft fights patent dispute

Microsoft has pulled virtually all of its Word programmes off of US shelves as it gears up to take the case to the court of appeal.

Last month, the IT giant was found to have infringed on the copyrighted patent of Canadian firm i4i by using a custom editing function in XML in Microsoft Word.

A deadline of January 11th was set for Microsoft to remove the offending software from US stores and the company was also ordered to pay damages of $290 million (£179.51 million) to i4i.

Microsoft has filed an appeal and is reportedly asking for a full panel of 11 judges of the US Court of Appeals to review the case in the hope that they will overturn the decision.

Upon the announcement of the verdict last month, the software giant said that the offending portion of the Word program was not overtly significant and could be easily replaced.

However, reports suggest that as many as nine of the company's Office programs have been removed from US shelves with no indication of when replacements will arrive.

This article first appeared on the BCS The Chartered Institute for IT website on 12 January 2010

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