Microsoft vs. i4i: Much Ado About Nothing?
by Sam Dean - Aug. 24, 2009Comments (0)- Related Blog Posts
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When a small Canadian company, i4i, recently won a $290 million judgment against Microsoft, much was made of the accompanying decree that Microsoft had 60 days to stop selling Microsoft Word in its current version. At issue were Custom XML-related patents that i4i defended. Microsoft has been very critical of the court's decision in the case, claiming that blocking the sale of Microsoft Word will also obstruct the sales of Microsoft Office, "threatening industry." Microsoft is also set to appeal the court's decision on September 23rd.
Some in the open source community have interpreted the brouhaha as a big opportunity for open source software suites such as OpenOffice, and open standards such as Open Document Format (ODF). I'm in agreement with Andy Updegrove, though, who argues that the whole confrontation may be a tempest in a teapot.
Updegrove writes:
"Whether or not Microsoft's emergency appeal to lift the Judge's order barring it from selling Office with Word as currently configured (i.e., with the specific offending XML capability included upon which the i4i suit focuses) is successful, I'll wager you that no one will have any more trouble buying Office the day after the 60 day pendancy period runs out than they did before."
He cites the possibility of a settlement between Microsoft and i4i, or the possibility that Microsoft could simply defy the court's order (Microsoft has defied the EU and other officials on similar issues before), and the scenario that I think is most likely: Microsoft will simply design around the infringement within 60 days.
Microsoft has armies of software engineers who could very likely preserve some Custom XML functionality in Word while meeting the court's terms, and do so within 60 days. If that's not possible, the company has a long history of reaching settlements in disagreements that journalists and bloggers have made a big deal of. That's exactly what happened with the company's square-off with TomTom earlier this year.
"Don't panic," Updegrove concludes. "These two patents are mostly harmless." I agree, and I think the whole dispute will go away before Microsoft actually has to face the idea of halting sales of Word, or, at worst, Microsoft will get an extension through the appeals process.
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