Microsoft Loses Office Patent Dispute

cwolfsheep writes "According to CNet, Microsoft has lost a patent dispute with a developer involving the company's Excel and Access product lines; specifically how they interact via spreadsheets. Carlos Armando Amado had filed a patent in 1994: the dispute covers Microsoft's products from March 1997 to July 2003. Office 2003 users will need to upgrade to Service Pack 2; Office XP users will need to apply a patch."

Comments

I don't think so.

[RancidMilk]

Patches are for pirates!

Who does /. hate more?

[RingDev]

The guy who patented interaction with a spread sheet, or Microsoft?

-Rick

Re:Whose problem is this?

[voice_of_all_reason]

Are you required to install security patches?

You haven't read the liscencing agreement, it seems.

The TOS states alot of things, like your sacred duty to grab a skullbat and assist in the Cleansing when Gazuga appears. It's all in there.

Re:Beginning of the end of 'Lord Microsoft'

[drxenos]

I give you these 15...CRASH...10 commandments!

Re:Now, what was that Microsoft was saying?

[greginnj]

'As-is' is exactly right, same as if you're buying a used car from a dirt lot. If you read your MS licenses carefully, you will find that they specifically avoid claiming that the software will allow you to type a sentence, add two numbers, or draw a straight line.

In practical terms, you are actually licencing a product that is not guaranteed to *DO* anything at all. Any functionality you might use is just gravy you should be grateful for. So from a licensing standpoint, they owe you nothing in terms of continued functionality of any kind, because they never promised you any functionality in the first place.

I had a professor who used to read a software license, but replaced the words 'software application' with 'Ford car' wherever they occurred. The effect was hysterical -- it wasn't guaranteed to do anything, wasn't guaranteed not to crash, not to have defects, etc. Try it sometime, it's a good brain exercise.