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US Court Tells Microsoft To Stop Selling Word
oranghutan writes "A judge in a Texas court has given Microsoft 60 days to comply with an order to stop selling Word products in their existing state as the result of a patent infringement suit filed by i4i. According to the injunction, Microsoft is forbidden from selling Word products that let people create XML documents, which both the 2003 and 2007 versions let you do. Michael Cherry, an analyst quoted in the article, said, 'It's going to take a long time for this kind of thing to get sorted out.' Few believe the injunction will actually stop Word from being sold because there are ways of working around it. In early 2009, a jury in the Texas court ordered Microsoft to pay i4i $200 million for infringing on the patent. ZDNet has a look at the patent itself, saying it 'sounds a bit generic.'"
Does that mean the next version of Office will really be a re-branded version of Office 97?
When I read the headline, I assumed that it was some over-zealous health-and-safety ruling based on the brain damage that Word appears to cause (although it's less guilty of this than PowerPoint). I was quite disappointed to learn it was just another patent troll.
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So when does the O'Reilly "Learning XML Patents" book hit the shelves and what animal will grace the cover?
To represent patent lawyers everywhere.
I'm sorry, but I'm afraid your trolling simply doesn't measure up to the high standards we have here at Slashdot. You see, unlike at digg or fark, we here at Slashdot have a rich tradition of truly great trolling, and because of this we try to attract only the best and brightest of the trolling community. Our trolls have gone on to lead very rich and lucrative careers in exciting and rewarding fields such as shills for Microsoft and Comcast management. Who do you think came up with the "Word incompatibilities" and "Weird Excel Math" bugs? That's right, a former Slashdot troll!
So please, in the future put more care and thought into your trolling. Remember that you are walking the path blazed by such luminaries as the GNAA and that you stand beside such greats as the shit eater troll and the ASCII goatse guy. So in the future try to remember the greats that came before you along with your trolling peers and live up to their high standards. Maybe if you troll hard you too will join the greats and have your portrait in the trolling hall of fame!(Currently located in the mens room of the Hooters restaurant in Paramus,NJ) Thank you for your time and may you have a successful career trolling here at slashdot!
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
I'm just saying... if you cannot use your court for justice, perhaps you should not have one at all. Perhaps the gentle folk of East Texas could then reflect on the role of their humble district as it relates to the rest of the country in comparison to their perceived need for a local court system. -Hope
I'm sorry, that 1991 memo was 17 years old in 2008, and is no longer valid.
Fortunately, all I had to do was patent putting edible substances and food stuffs in heated water. Soup, hot chocolate, coffee, hot tubs... yeah, baby. I got 'em covered.
Who are we supposed to favor in this fight? Microsoft or the patent troll?
I can't quite figure it out myself.
But then I realized the cable was blue, so I only gave it one star. I hate blue.
If we have sunk to new depths, it is by having giants stand upon our shoulders
Come play free flash games on Kongregate!
If this is held up then XML looks to be a dead format
well, every cloud....
Fortunately, all I had to do was patent putting edible substances and food stuffs in heated water. Soup, hot chocolate, coffee, hot tubs... yeah, baby. I got 'em covered.
Ahh, delicious baby in hot tub stew....
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That is moving the industry forward and creating lots of jobs for us techies. I pity the lawyers that are starving due to this innovative environment that is being created by software patents.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
If we have sunk to new depths, it is by having giants stand upon our shoulders
I thought it was from standing in the footprints of giants.
If a giant tries to stand on your shoulders, you'll probably find yourself in the footprint fairly fast, albeit not standing.