Microsoft banned from selling Word in US

[Shiny Grimer]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technolo...Microsoft-banned-from-selling-Word-in-US.html
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/microsoft-investors-shrug-judge-s-ban-word-cheer-nokia-deal-107404

Some company called i4i claims Microsoft willingly violated a patent of theirs which allows for reading XML in Word. The court ruled in favor of i4i and Microsoft has 30 days to comply. Being that this is freaking Microsoft we're talking about here, they're not going down without a fight.

Before everyone begins going "yes death to micro$oft", you should perhaps take a moment to think about just how stupid this patent is. Why is opening XML in a word processor copyrighted? Do any of you remember the Anascape thing with Nintendo where they were sued over detecting motion in a controller? These guys are patent-sitters. If Microsoft were the one using this against some poor, defenseless open-source dudes, there would be hell to pay.

1. i4i is basically a patent troll; they abused the general ignorance of patent officials to obtain a patent for a fairly obvious process — essentially, using XML documents for word processing. Then they waited for somebody with deep pockets to come along and use it, which they certainly would, since the idea was stupidly obvious and strictly speaking they never should have been granted a patent for it.
2. OpenOffice is not safe, since it also is capable of reading XML-formatted documents, including Microsoft’s formats. So, if Microsoft doesn’t win their appeal, it’s only a matter of time before OpenOffice suffers the same fate.
3. Microsoft Office uses a standard, open format for XML office documents. You guys really think it’s a good thing for a patent troll to force them back to proprietary formats?

i4i’s patent has no merit; it comes from the same sort of ignorance that has allowed patents for things like news feeds (in a web browser!) and “collecting user feedback” (but on the INTERNET, so it must be original, right?). If this sort of patent practice is allowed to continue, it will hurt everybody, but especially it will hurt the free and open source software developers who don’t have the cash to defend themselves against absurd patent claims.

 

[Vyraura]

jesus

how can the patent office be that stupid.
I think ill try to patent the process of using your ipod to store un-accessable data simply as a backup, then. or something equally universal.

 

[Valerunner]

Well Microsoft can just counter-sue them with that claim of abusing a patent. That has to be illegal.

 

[Tailsy]

yes death to micro$oft

I mean, er, how terrible and dumb of them

 

[H-land]

I believe that USA Today presented this as a "David and Goliath" type battle.
So I'm supposed to be rooting for Goliath?

 

[Valerunner]

I believe that USA Today presented this as a "David and Goliath" type battle.
So I'm supposed to be rooting for Goliath?

Yes if David used a shotgun.

 

[Vladimir Putin's LJ]

Well Goliath was a pretty cool guy so I don't know whether everyone will like the analogy.

 

[Diz]

Well, Word is a very widely used program, as well as anything else Microsoft produces. It'll be pretty bad if it is split up into, what was it? two different companies?

I dislike Microsoft as much as most everybody here, but I still use their products. This patent troll shouldn't win.

Edit: How did a Canadian based company get a US patent?

 

[Yarnchu]

Cause Canadians are Americans too.

Actually, that makes no sense. Maybe a US office?

 

[Blastoise Fortooate]

I miss the days when Einstein worked in the patent office.