/ The company i4i accused Microsoft of having used a tool whose patent belonged to one of its software in 2007. The fine imposed on the company of Bill Gates is one of the largest ever established in a case of patent infringement. Technology like Google or Apple Giants supported Microsoft. Microsoft has lost in the U.S. Supreme Court battle against a small Canadian company that accused him of violating a patent, in a case that will cost $ 290 million and may splash other technology giants. Judges of the highest U.S.
Court endorsed in a unanimous vote the company i4i, which accused Microsoft of having used in its Word software an authoring tool XML whose patent belongs to him. The sentence imposed on the company founded by Bill Gates the largest monetary fine established ever in a case of patent infringement, and closes a long process opened in 2007 by i4i. Microsoft, backed by other heavyweights such as Apple computer and Google, appealed in the Supreme Court verdicts issued against it in various courts, with the argument that the patent era yours and that, in any case, deleted the tool that contains it in later versions of Word. But the greater goal of the technology giant was the facilitate companies that face similar disputes the possibility of testing your plaintiff’s patent is invalid. According to their argument, the legal current standard to prove the invalidity of a patent is too demanding, and this makes the balance runs tilting in favor of the plaintiffs.
Microsoft based its stance on alleged evidence which, according to it says, the American patent office not taken into account when he decided to grant the licence to the Canadian company. At the hearing, judge Sonia Sotomayor considered that the current standard is clear and convincing and should be used for the verdict rather than a preponderance of the evidence, as expected Microsoft. Despite the fact that the language used in the statement is very technical, the interpretation of your order can unleash disputes by property rights and patents of billions of dollars, according to legal experts quoted by the specialized web Computerworld.