A case involving Word, XML, and a company called i4i still isn’t going in Microsoft’s favor. The large corporation recently lost an appeal, meaning it isn’t allowed to sell certain versions of Word and is supposed to pay i4i $240 million.
This was actually the second time Microsoft’s appeal has been heard. i4i first won against Microsoft in August of last year, when a court ruled that the Redmond-based corporation had infringed on i4i’s patents covering custom XML functionality and the creation of documents. Then i4i won again in December when the ruling was upheld.
Microsoft’s acknowledged these events by not selling copies of Word that (allegedly) infringe on i4i’s patents. The catch is that no money seems to have changed hands.
And for better or for worse, the $240 million may not move from Microsoft’s bank account for a while yet. Microsoft would like for the case to be reviewed again, and if that endeavor doesn’t work out in its favor, the company could attempt to make a stand in front of the Supreme Court.
Anyway, the BBC reported, “The decision on the whether to hold that review is due within the next six weeks.”
