i4i Says OpenOffice Does Not Infringe Like MS Word 146
I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "After the permanent injunction barring Microsoft from selling Microsoft Word, many armchair lawyers and pundits wondered how the ruling would affect OpenOffice. The company with the patent, i4i, believes that OpenOffice does not infringe upon it. But lest anyone think that therefore ODF will win out over OOXML, keep in mind that Microsoft has its own broad XML document patent, which issued just two weeks ago, having been filed in December 2004, and they're telling the Supreme Court to apply the Bilski ruling narrowly, so that it doesn't invalidate patents like theirs (and i4i's). After all, unlike most companies and individuals, Microsoft can afford $290 million infringement fines. Then again, given that Microsoft's new patent has only two independent claims (claim #1 and claim #12), and both of those claims 'comprise' something using an 'XML file format for documents associated with an application having a rich set of features,' maybe they wouldn't be that hard to work around if you just make sure any otherwise infringing format is only associated with an application lacking in the feature richness department."
No matter who wins (Score:1, Insightful)
We lose.
Re:Gold digging? (Score:5, Insightful)
yea, openoffice is free so there is little to no money in sueing them, but microsoft there is millions in there
Sun is distributing OpenOffice, and is legally liable for any patent infringement that would be involved. Pretty soon Oracle will be legally responsible. There is plenty of money there to be gotten by a patent infringement lawsuit, if there was a case to be made. But OpenOffice simply doesn't infringe any patents on OOXML's extension mechanisms simply because ODF doesn't have any such extension mechanisms.
Apply Bilski forcefully with unilaterally (Score:5, Insightful)
What does XML have to do with anything? Microsoft's XML based office format notwithstanding, XML is a text-based data storage and interchange format. Putting things in a container to make them easy to store and transport cannot possibly be non-obvious or novel. Can I get a patent on storing the Amero in a billfold (digital or otherwise)?
For all the talk about improving patent quality, the patent holders real colors come out when they start challenging Bilski.
Avoidance of upstream legal risk matters. (Score:4, Insightful)
It would not matter what a third party thinks as long as i4i thinks it is not infringing. Unlike trademarks, patents do not expire unless enforced. So i4i is within rights to sue Microsoft and not Sun.
From the perspective of a company which invests into integrating its business processes with the office software that it is using (that's the area of application where the kind of stuff that the patent talks about is relevant), it matters a lot whether you can base your work on ODF without having to fear that essential features (for your purposes) might get removed from future versions due to patent trouble.
Telling? (Score:5, Insightful)
Asking, you mean.
Re:The MS patent does not affect ODF. (Score:3, Insightful)
A Patent Troll is a Patent Troll and nothing they do benefits us in the long run
What does that have to do with the i4i suit?
Re:Gold digging? (Score:3, Insightful)
Oracle still makes billions of dollars, even if Microsoft makes more than them.
But i4i makes a custom XML product... (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, the term lawyers use isn't "patent troll" but NPE (non-practicing entity).
Under that term, i4i is, in fact, a practicing entity. That is to say, i4i makes an actual product using something like custom XML. No, i4i does not make a word processor, but Microsoft hasn't been barred from selling MS Word, only from incorporating custom XML into it. So the injunction only exists to prevent Microsoft from cannibalizing i4i's product.
Now, I do think their patent is a bit obvious and I don't like software patents in general. But if Microsoft had any sense, they would do an about-face and recant their amicus brief on Bilski, asking the Supreme Court to strike down all software patents, reducing their potential legal liability tremendously. Of course, I know they won't do that. And I don't know what deadlines are involved, so it's possible that it's too late for them to do that. But they might not be in this mess if they had seen the light and lobbied against software patents a long time ago.
And on a side note, I can't believe that there are Microsoft "partners" in this day and age who don't expect to get screwed. I wouldn't have done business with them to begin with. I can't name a single partner they haven't screwed over when given the incentive.
Re:What about notepad? (Score:5, Insightful)
I think you may be overreacting a bit. Whether the patent is valid or not (an appellate decision might prove that it is not), it certainly isn't as broad in scope as you are suggesting. Microsoft may end up having to remove some infrequently used functionality from Word, but the software industry as we know it is not going to come to an end because of this injunction.
Before characterizing the courts as completely clueless, you might want to go through the court's memorandum opinion and order [uscourts.gov] (PACER registration required, but no cost for this document) denying Microsoft's motion for judgment as a matter of law. It is a detailed memorandum (65 pages, double-spaced, 12-pt font) that gives quite a bit of detail as to why the judge decided to uphold the jury's verdict. Go through it and decide for yourself whether the evidence and arguments presented by Microsoft were so convincing that no reasonably jury would have found for i4i.
Cute, but seriously, take a closer look at what the real issues are in this case. If you don't try to understand the facts that drive a particular case, your arguments regarding the law and the way courts apply it will sound more like pseudoscience [skepdic.com] than science. Good science is based on facts. Good legal arguments are based on facts too.
Re:But i4i makes a custom XML product... (Score:3, Insightful)
I agree with your points. Wouldn't it take an act of Congress, rather, to change the law? I can't see the Supreme Court striking down software patents in a broad stroke.
Unfortunately, with Congress consisting mostly crooks, I can't imagine they'd do anything--you know--sensible...
Re:No matter who wins (Score:3, Insightful)
I think it's funny. Microsoft steps right into a landmines of patents, and problems and complications seem to go off at every turn. Ironic? A little bit. Come on, it's a little funny.
Only if you find the decay of human civilizations funny. No one is immune to this nonsense and in the end innovation grinds to a halt and everything goes backwards until the current IP laws are replaced with something saner and more sustainable. In the meantime expect to see less progress on everything from things that make your life more convenient to medical technology your life may depend on.
Re:Telling? (Score:5, Insightful)
It's Microsoft. "Telling" more accurately connotes their arrogant attitude when dealing with such petty nuisances as the U.S. Court system.
Re:The MS patent does not affect ODF. (Score:4, Insightful)
You're right, of course.
i4i, however, is not now, and has not ever been a patent troll.
Unlike a patent troll, i4i produces an actual product. An actual product, which, after working with Microsoft, Microsoft unilaterally stole.
i4i is not a patent troll, unless you are trying to spin the story so that people think 'poor Microsoft'.
Hopefully, that won't work here.
Re:The MS patent does not affect ODF. (Score:5, Insightful)
Why is AC flamebait? A lot of MS employees had spare time today, and some of them had mod points? If anyone bothers to actually read the stories surrounding the case, AC's account is quite accurate.
Embrace, extend, extinguish did in fact fail this time. The little guy in this case does not qualify as our typical patent troll.
Re:The MS patent does not affect ODF. (Score:1, Insightful)
Why is AC flamebait?
Probably because it is just as suspicious that so "many" people are defending i4i because "they have a product". Never mind that their patent is ridiculous and they are suing in troll haven.
Re:What is non-custom XML? (Score:1, Insightful)
All of this simply reinforces, at least to me, the idiocy of software patents. They are great for companies or individuals to make money, but bad for the intellectual side of the software development industry because they stifle innovation. I don't think you are missing anything at all and saw the issue very clearly - some patent holder wants money, period. It's very sad this happens, but people and companies arre greedy and so here we are.