Microsoft Loses Second Word Appeal, Owes $240M

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Microsoft has lost its second appeal against a ruling that called for the software giant to fork out nearly a quarter of a billion in damages for patent infringement.

Late last year, after a lengthy legal battle, Microsoft was ordered to alter word and pay Canadian-based company, i4i, $240 million in damages. Microsoft was found guilty of infringing upon XML-related patents owned by i4i but Redmond appealed the decision calling it a "miscarriage of justice." In December, this appeal was denied and Microsoft filed another.

The second appeal has now been denied and the BBC reports that this time, the judges spelled things out for Microsoft, detailing the decision was made in the first place. The judges say there's evidence to suggest that Microsoft knew about the i4i infringements before it turned up in Office. Indeed, court documents released after the initial verdict was announced echo their thoughts.

Soon after the verdict was made public in August, court documents revealed that not only did Microsoft know about the infringement, the company hoped to render i4i's product obsolete with newer versions of Office.

In an email to a colleague, Martin Sawicki, a member of Microsoft's XML for Word development team said they had met with the i4i team.

"We saw [i4i's products] some time ago and met its creators. Word 11 will make it obsolete," said Sawicki. "It looks great for XP though," he added.

According to the BBC, Microsoft is waiting on word from the other appeal court judges who will decide if Redmond has grounds for a wider review of the case. If they decide that Microsoft does not have grounds for a review, the company can take its appeal to the Supreme Court.

Jane McEntegart
38 Comments Comment from the forums
  • dman3k
    So let me put this in a far simpler way:

    m$ - 0.24B = i4i

    Hi, Tuan!
    Reply
  • Tomtompiper
    Microsoft will win in the end, unfortunately money talks.
    Reply
  • mayne92
    tomtompiperMicrosoft will win in the end, unfortunately money talks.Yuppers...that's how it worked for them when sued by U.S. government years ago!
    Reply
  • mayne92
    "Soon after the verdict was made public in August, court documents revealed that not only did Microsoft know about the infringement, the company hoped to render i4i's product obsolete with newer versions of Office."

    That's funny. M$ steals i4i's patented technology and tries to run them into the ground with it. Kind of like...when M$ took Java and made Visual J# which failed trying to make an open-source technology a M$. Or the Iso program that had open-source code in it...and M$ turned it into proprietary code. Hell, I could go on...
    Reply
  • superblahman123
    At least this is a patent infringement case on a patent that someone is actually applying to a product they have. "Intellectual property" is a joke.
    Reply
  • They need to make software patents go away, period. And need to make it where if a patent holder doesn't make a product or service within 2 years of a patent being granted, the patent is nullified.
    Reply
  • ravewulf
    $240M seems a like a bit much for something like this. i4i (eye for eye) is more like an arm and a leg in return for a papercut
    Reply
  • falconqc
    I wonder if Microsoft checked to see if all i4i machines had genuine versions of windows installed and not pirated versions. Hilarity could ensue were it not the case.

    I'm no MS fanboi, but i4i is just a patent troll. I know plenty of people who work for companies like that. They do R&D without any intention of marketing their products and then sit on em waiting for one of the big players to slightly infringe on the patent so they can sue.
    Reply
  • darknova_
    falconqcI wonder if Microsoft checked to see if all i4i machines had genuine versions of windows installed and not pirated versions. Hilarity could ensue were it not the case.I'm no MS fanboi, but i4i is just a patent troll. I know plenty of people who work for companies like that. They do R&D without any intention of marketing their products and then sit on em waiting for one of the big players to slightly infringe on the patent so they can sue.

    MarthThey need to make software patents go away, period. And need to make it where if a patent holder doesn't make a product or service within 2 years of a patent being granted, the patent is nullified.

    to both of you i4i has products that use the xml patents
    Reply
  • daggs
    falconqcI wonder if Microsoft checked to see if all i4i machines had genuine versions of windows installed and not pirated versions. Hilarity could ensue were it not the case.I'm no MS fanboi, but i4i is just a patent troll. I know plenty of people who work for companies like that. They do R&D without any intention of marketing their products and then sit on em waiting for one of the big players to slightly infringe on the patent so they can sue.
    it doesn't matters how dirty i4i are matter to the fact, microsoft was convicted in software stealing... if they considering them self as an huge software company, then they should either not get caught or stop stealing other's code.
    Reply