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Microsoft Is Sued For Patent Violation Over .NET

Posted by Zonk on from the is-it-weird-to-root-for-the-megacorp-on-this-one dept.

randomErr writes "As reported by Info World, Microsoft was issued a cease and desist order on February 7 of this year by Vertical Computer Systems. The order was for patent infringement by the current implementations of the .NET framework. Both the .NET framework and Vertical Computer Systems' SiteFlash use XML to create component-based structures that are used to build and operate web sites. Vertical Computer Systems is requesting a full jury trial. If VCS prevails, .NET technology implementations as we know them may completely change and Microsoft would probably have to pay out a hefty sum."

10 of 288 comments (clear)

  1. Sounds like a patent on the MCV pattern? by WarwickRyan · · Score: 5, Insightful

    From the patent:

    "A system and method for generating computer applications in an arbitrary object framework. The method separates content, form, and function of the computer application so that each may be accessed or modified separately."

    http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PT O1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fs rchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=6,826,744.PN.&OS=PN/6,8 26,744&RS=PN/6,826,744

    I think I might buy some old IT books, move to America, then patent everything in them.

  2. I'm not anti-Microsoft... by localman · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...but I sort of hope they get bit badly by this. Am I a fool to assume that the only way for patents to be reformed is for the big players to get bit so bad they start lobbying for change?

    1. Re:I'm not anti-Microsoft... by rucs_hack · · Score: 5, Insightful

      more likely this and other cases will make microsoft start patenting more and more trivial crap.

      It's going to reach the point where no software company in america will be able to create anything original at all. That will open the stage for new players, like China, India or the middle east (yes, shock horrer they do have smart people there, and software companies too, amazing isn't it...).

      I think that's why microsoft is bricking over Linux et al. While Microsoft is being drown in a shitpool of its own making, Open Source is powering ever onward.

  3. How long until... by MaXMC · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Microsoft just buy them?

  4. Re:location to develop? by Omicron32 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Russia and Sweden.

  5. Other affected by suv4x4 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    From the wording of the patent (overly broad of course), other affected may be:

    Adobe's FLEX platform (the XML language being MXML)
    Sun's Java JSP
    W3C (the language being.. XHTML)

    as well as smaller players like Laszlo and a myriad of other platforms with a procedural part and declarative part in XML (including platforms I've written myself for PHP and Java).

    It's laughable, I hope the court acknowledges the loads of prior art. Few years ago someone patented interactrive CMS system (i.e. web appsf or managing sites) and the community was outraged, as the patent was directed straight at everyone using Java/Flash/JS for creating online CMS systems in the form of rich internet applications. The "reference" implementation used Flash.

    Nothing came out of it. My advice is don't worry and let Microsoft take care of those clowns (hopefully this doesn't pan out like the Eolas case).

  6. Re:And you wonder by suv4x4 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Funny how we in the free world survives without these patents.

    Don't be so brave to claim your world "the free world". Last time this happened to USA and see where they are now. Europe is on the track to follow them.

  7. Does this affect Mono? by jonwil · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Or does Mono not implement the relavent bit of .NET?

    1. Re:Does this affect Mono? by julesh · · Score: 4, Insightful

      No, it doesn't refer to XAML. The article makes it sound like XML has something to do with it, but if you read the actual patent what it's about is having a design-time facility that allows you to select components from a library and automatically integrate them with the object you're building, like Visual Studio's design mode does.

  8. Re:Huh? WTF? by joto · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Software patents are written in obscure ways because they don't really exist. A software patent is always describing a system consisting of a computer and software, as only devices are patentable. And they have to make it sound complex, otherwise there would be nothing to patent. There are probably other workarounds the lawyers have to consider to make software patents possible. The legalese is there for a reason, it's because software patents aren't valid by law, only by some court decision made a long time ago, and every lawyer has to make their patent application look like that one!

    You can't argue with common sense against stuff like this. That's why lawyers are paid to do the job for you.