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MS vs AT&T Case Stirs Software Patent Debate

Posted by samzenpus on from the can-you-or-can't-you dept.

Stormwave0 writes "A Microsoft appeal against a decision for AT&T and their speech recognition patent has reached the Supreme Court. AT&T has argued that they did not license software using the patent for sales overseas. Microsoft, in the original case, argued "that it wasn't really liable for infringing on AT&T's licensing rights because it only supplied the golden disk to the replicator one time, and that disk did not really contain software in a usable form anyway." With that argument rejected, the case has moved in an unexpected direction. The court is now debating whether or not software is actually patentable."

5 of 218 comments (clear)

  1. Somebody might want to tell Steve about this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Perhaps Steve Ballmer ought to have checked with legal before mouthing off about Linux and intellectual property yesterday?

    1. Re:Somebody might want to tell Steve about this... by jimstapleton · · Score: 4, Funny

      Some people get the book thrown at them, this lawyer will probably get the chair...

      --
      34486853790
      Connection too slow for X forwarding? Try "ssh -CX user@host"
  2. Go Kennedy and Scalia! by Veetox · · Score: 2, Funny

    Apparently, their questions pointed MS lawyers in the right direction, according to TFA. Also, "...in a double wammy decision, the court finds that polygamy is legal." (Futurama... sorry, I just had to.)

  3. who sez the supremes got no sense of humor: by airdrummer · · Score: 1, Funny

    "I hope we can continue calling it the golden disk," Justice Antonin Scalia said, when one justice blandly referred to it as the master disk. "It has a certain Scheherazade quality that really adds a lot of interest to this case." wash.post

  4. Microsoft's plan for how it plays out by Experiment+626 · · Score: 2, Funny

    AT&T: OMG! Microsoft copied out patented software.

    Justices: Microsoft, how do you respond to these allegations?

    Microsoft: Whatever. It's not like software is even patentable anyway.

    Justices: You raise an important issue. Why do you feel software shouldn't be patentable?

    Microsoft: Chewbacca is a Wookiee from the planet Kashyyyk. But Chewbacca lives on the planet Endor. Now think about it; that does not make sense!

    Justices: WTF? That's the best reason you can come up with not to uphold software patents? This court rules that software patents are legal and enforceable!

    Microsoft: Oh, no! Please don't fling me in the briar patch!