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USA Texase osariigi kohus keelas Microsoftil müüa USA-s või importida USA-sse Microsoft Office kontoritarkvarapaketi hulka kuuluvat tekstiredaktorit Word. Keeld on tingitud patendiõiguse rikkumisest Microsofti poolt Word-i XML-i failivormingutes, nagu Word 2003 ja Word 2007 DOCX ja peatselt ilmuva Office 2010 Word  OOXML (mille Microsoft jõudis juba läbi suruda standardiks ISO/IEC 29500), s.t. kõikides Word-i failides laiendiga DOCX.

Kokkuvõte kohtuotsusest:

Today’s permanent injunction prohibits Microsoft from selling or importing to the United States any Microsoft Word products that have the capability of opening .XML, .DOCX or DOCM files (XML files) containing custom XML.

Microsofti poolt ebaseaduslikult kasutatud patendi omanikuks ja hagejaks kohtus oli Kanada firma i4i Inc. , kelle kasuks kohus mõistis Microsoftilt välja ka üle $290 miljoni USD kahjuraha.

Väljavõte i4i Inc. kohtus esindanud advokaadibüroo pressiteatest:

The national law firm of McKool Smith is announcing a permanent injunction and total damages and interest of more than $290 million against software giant Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) in a Texas patent infringement lawsuit won by Toronto-based technology provider i4i Inc.

The Order and Permanent Injunction were signed today by Judge Leonard Davis of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division. Today’s ruling follows a May 20, 2009, verdict of $200 million after jurors found that Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft willfully infringed an i4i patent covering a document system that relies on the XML custom formatting function.

During the trial, attorneys from McKool Smith and Tyler, Texas-based Parker, Bunt & Ainsworth successfully argued that Microsoft infringed the i4i patent issued in 1998, U.S. Patent No. 5,787,449, which covers software designed to manipulate “document architecture and content.” The software covered by the patent removed the need for individual, manually embedded command codes to control text formatting in electronic documents.

In today’s order, Judge Davis ruled that Microsoft should pay i4i an additional $40 million for its willful infringement of the i4i patent. Microsoft also was ordered to pay slightly more than $37 million in prejudgment interest, including an additional $21,102 per day until a final judgment is reached in the case. The court also ordered Microsoft to pay $144,060 per day until the date of final judgment for post-verdict damages. Today’s permanent injunction prohibits Microsoft from selling or importing to the United States any Microsoft Word products that have the capability of opening .XML, .DOCX or DOCM files (XML files) containing custom XML. The court is requiring Microsoft to comply with the injunction within 60 days.

Microsoft ilmselt kaebab otsuse edasi, kuid hetkeseis on siis ikkagi selline, et Wordi müük USA-s tuleb peatada. Mida see USA kohtuotsus võiks tähendada Wordi müügile EU maades, ei oska hetkel veel öelda.

Märkuseks veel niipalju, et  i4i Inc. esindaja on öelnud, et ISO/IEC 26300  ODF (OpenDocument) failivorming, mis teadupärast põhineb samuti XML-l ja võistleb OOXML failivorminguga,  EI riku ühtegi nende patenti.

Viiteid sellel teemal:

• BBC News: Judge bans Microsoft Word sales
• Cnet News: Judge orders Microsoft to stop selling Word
• Groklaw:  The i4i v. Microsoft Orders and Permanent Injunction
• Groklaw:  Why didn’t Microsoft tell us about i4i’s patent litigation during the OOXML standards push?
• PCWorld: Microsoft Word Patent Ruling: So Who Is i4i?
• Koopia i4i Inc. kaebusest USA kohtule (PDF)
• Koopia kohtukeelust (PDF)
• Koopia kohtuotsusest (PDF)