September 4th, 2009
Word saved? Microsoft gets stay of injunction in i4i patent battle
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit gave Microsoft a win in its patent battle with i4i: A stay of an injunction that would prevent the software giant from selling Word.
Microsoft filed the motion Aug. 18 after the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas ordered the company to pay i4i $240 million.
The injunction would have become effective Oct. 10. Now the injunction is stayed until the appeal process is finished. Microsoft will present the opening volley of its appeal on Sept. 23 (Techmeme).
According to the injunction, Microsoft would have been enjoined from selling “Microsoft Word 2003, Microsoft Word 2007, and Microsoft Word products not more than colorably different from Microsoft Word 2003 or Microsoft Word 2007.”
Download the PDFs in the case: i4i’s 2007 complaint against Microsoft (with patent in question), the Aug. 11 injunction, and judgment against Microsoft.
More: Examine the patent that made selling Microsoft Word a crime
Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of ZDNet sister site TechRepublic. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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