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i4i and its dollar 290M Award Survive Microsoft Appeal
In a decision widely publicized in Canada, on December 22, 2009, a 3 judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit of Washington upheld the ruling from Texas that Microsoft “wilfully” infringed i4i’s U.S. patent 5,787,449 in its use of custom XML script in the ubiquitous Microsoft Word 2007 software, as well as some versions of Word 2003.
The injunction is set to take effect (only in the U.S.) on January 11, 2010. Microsoft has distributed its patch to design around the Word 2007 infringement for existing copies as well as a purportedly non-infringing Word 2007. The injunction does not apply to Word 2003, and there is currently no patch to render Word 2003 non-infringing. Microsoft may continue to appeal the judgment to the other 9 judges at the U.S. Court of Appeals level or to the U.S. Supreme Court.
It is expected that i4i will now pursue other suspected infringers on the strength of this verdict.
For a previous i4i Press Release in this matter, visit:
http://www.i4i.com/collateral/05-26-09-Release-Jury_orders_Microsoft_to_pay_i4i.pdf
For the December 22, 2009 Microsoft Press Release, visit:
http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/press/2009/dec09/12-22statement.mspx
For additional information, visit: