Microsoft on the hook for $200M in patent infringement case |
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Microsoft on the hook for $200M in patent infringement case
A Texas jury has awarded Toronto software company i4i $200 million after it found that Microsoft infringed on a patent related to a document formatting system. The technology in question was used in Microsoft products such as Word 2003 and Word 2007.
i4i's patent -- U.S. Patent No. 5,787,499 -- was issued in 1998. Reuters reports that Microsoft plans to appeal the verdict, which included awards for lost profits and royalties.
i4i president Karen Heater tells the AP that the company feels "vindicated." The 8-day trial was held in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
Just last month, Microsoft was ordered to pay $388 million for infringing a software patent from Uniloc.
Now, according to Bloomberg News, Microsoft has the dubious honor of losing the two biggest patent infringement verdicts so far this year. And Bloomberg notes that $200 million equates to about four days of profit at the software giant.
UPDATE: Here's Microsoft's statement from spokesman David Bowermaster.
"We are disappointed by the jury's verdict. We believe the evidence clearly demonstrated that we do not infringe and that the i4i patent is invalid. We believe this award of damages is legally and factually unsupported, so we will ask the court to overturn the verdict."
About Todd Bishop
Todd Bishop is co-founder and managing editor of TechFlash. He has covered Microsoft and the technology industry for more than five years, most recently as a daily newspaper reporter and blogger based in Seattle.
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