Start-up Granted Injunction Against Microsoft

AustinSlacker writes " A San Jose, CA start-up, Alacritech Inc, was granted a preliminary injunction against Microsoft in a patent infringement lawsuit involving several patents related to Microsoft's implementation of "Chimney" TCP offload architecture."

Comments

Watch out Microsoft

[TimeTraveler1884]

FTA:

"Microsoft rejected licensing terms that would be acceptable to us. We were forced to sue Microsoft to stop them from continuing to infringe, and inducing others to infringe, on our intellectual property rights. We are very pleased with the Court?s decision in this matter."

What goes around comes around I say. While by no means I think everyone suing everyone is a good thing, it's refreshing to see that someone is taking on Microsoft for a change.

What is unclear to me though, is if Alacritech really the first to use this technology. They don't explicitly say this in the article. The closest thing to indicate that Microsoft tried to steal their technology is the following time line:

* 10/97--Alacritech files first provisional U.S. Patent application 60/061,809 on SLIC Technology
* 09/98--Alacritech meets with Microsoft and describes patent-pending Dynamic TCP Offload architecture in detail under a non-disclosure agreement
* 04/99--At Microsoft?s request, Alacritech delivers?detailed architecture document for integrating Alacritech SLIC Technology into Windows
* 06/99--Microsoft ceases further communications with Alacritech?and subsequently proceeds to use Alacritech SLIC Technology without a license
* 04/00--Alacritech ships first products based on SLIC Technology
* 05/01--First Alacritech patent on SLIC Technology, U.S. Patent No. 6,226,680 issued
* 07/02--Alacritech U.S. Patent No. 6,427,171 issued

According to this, Microsoft met with them, asked them for the architecture details, the ceased contact 2 months later. Interesting.

Re:Watch out Microsoft

[winkydink]

According to this, Microsoft met with them, asked them for the architecture details, the ceased contact 2 months later. Interesting.

As dubious as it sounds, it can also be a matter of, after looking at it indetail, they discovered that there was nothing special about it.

Re:Watch out Microsoft

[bonch]

I'm confused; I thought we were against software patents?

Re:Watch out Microsoft

[linuxtelephony]

This is hardly "becoming" MO for Microsoft -- this HAS BEEN SOP for Microsoft for years. It's a practice that is, and has been, repeated numerous times by Microsoft, and reported on as well.

The problem, is that it is cheaper for MS to continue with this practice, as well as paying off the settlements they end up having to pay, and to keep making money by selling these products.

Just like it was (a while back) cheaper for MS to pay fines and keep violating a ruling or law (and pocketing money from sales) than complying.

Re:Watch out Microsoft

[dnixon112]

We are against software patents. The reason this is a good thing is simple. Big companies have a lot of lobbying power with the government. The more big companies, like Microsoft, are getting screwed over by bullshit software patents (instead of just using them to screw others over) the more likely they will push for patent reform. If big companies, not just some open source junkies, are using their lobbying power to change software patents then it will be a lot easier to get the system changed.

Re:Watch out Microsoft

[wardk]

As dubious as it sounds, it can also be a matter of, after looking at it indetail, they discovered that there was nothing special about it.

This certainly could be the case.

I know they were so unimpressed with Stac's disk compression technology, that they quickly wrote their own from scratch in a clean room. wait, maybe that was Sybase SQL Server. No, that's not it.

maybe the risk losing a suit in the end is cheaper than either paying legit royalties or investing the R&D to roll your own. I think maybe MS has so much money, they are willing to take these sorts of risks, it's only money...that stuff falls from the sky for them.

Re:I'm starting to see the software patent problem

[bonch]

Wikipedia even has an entry on the software patent debate.

The amusing section is the list of quotes for and against software patents, both lead by a Gates quote:

Quotes supporting patentability

Bill Gates (Microsoft) 2005
"...There are some new modern-day sort of communists who want to get rid of the incentive for musicians and moviemakers and software makers under various guises. They don't think that those incentives should exist... I'd be the first to say that the patent system can always be tuned...the United States has led...because we've had the best intellectual-property system."

Quotes against patentability

Bill Gates (Microsoft) 1991
Internal memo
"If people had understood how patents would be granted when most of today's ideas were invented and had taken out patents, the industry would be at a complete standstill today...The solution is patenting as much as we can. A future startup with no patents of its own will be forced to pay whatever price the giants choose to impose. That price might be high. Established companies have an interest in excluding future competitors."

SOP for M$

[jwave]

OK, at the risk of clobbering my newly grown karma, allow me to point out that this is a shining example of how Microsoft has grown to become the great behemoth it is.

Below, find three sequential elements from the timeline in TFA.

• 09/98 - Alacritech meets with Microsoft and describes patent-pending Dynamic TCP Offload architecture in detail under a non-disclosure agreement
• 04/99 - At Microsoft's request, Alacritech delivers detailed architecture document for integrating Alacritech SLIC Technology into Windows
• 06/99 - Microsoft ceases further communications with Alacritech and subsequently proceeds to use Alacritech SLIC Technology without a license

How many articles have we seen here on /. that duplicates this pattern? Who else has been stepped on by the giant in such manner? I'm sure somebody could find a fist-full of articles here in history that shows exactly that behavior pattern.

Am I correct in recalling that Novell got stung? IBM? I know those are giants themselves. I'm just glad to see that a little David has been able to sling his stone bullet into the face of the Goliath. Now, let's see if they can make it really count.

I'm not asking to shut down Microsoft. Just have them play fair.

Is that too much to ask, Bill?

(Bill: "Why, yes. It is.")

- - -
When you say that you agree to a thing in principle, you mean that you have not the slightest intention of carrying it out in practice. -- Otto Von Bismarck
(this sig stolen from /.)