Microsoft today asked a federal appeals court to stop, at least temporarily, an injunction that threatens to prevent the company from selling its widely used Microsoft Word software. In an emergency motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals, the company argues that a federal court in Texas made a series of legal mistakes last week when it granted the injunction in favor of i4i in a patent dispute between the companies.

"If left undisturbed, the district court's injunction will inflict irreparable harm on Microsoft by potentially keeping the centerpiece of its product line out of the market for months. The injunction would block the distribution not only of Word but also of the entire Office suite, which contains Word and other popular programs," lawyers for the Redmond company write in the filing (Download PDF).

The dispute is over Microsoft's use of XML file technology in Word. In the case, i4i won a $290 million verdict and a permanent injunction against sales of versions of Word that infringe on the company's XML related patent. Microsoft is now asking the appeals court to issue a stay that would prevent the injunction from going into effect while its appeal of the ruling proceeds.

The public version of today's filing has been stripped of some confidential information. In the motion, Microsoft argues that the injunction would hurt not only its business but that of its partners.

"Unless Microsoft is able to redesign Word and push that redesigned version through its entire distribution network by October 10th -- [long clause redacted] -- Microsoft and its distributors (which includes retailers such as Best Buy and OEMs such as HP and Dell) face the imminent possibility of a massive disruption in their sales," the filing says.

It continues, "Even if Microsoft ultimately succeeds on appeal, it will never be able to recoup the funds expended in redesigning and redistributing Word, the sales lost during the period when Word and Office are barred from the market, and the diminished goodwill from Microsoft's many retail and industrial customers. Those significant unrecoverable costs make this a classic case for a stay pending appeal."