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Chinese Court Rules Microsoft Violated IP Rights
angry tapir writes "A Beijing court has ruled that Microsoft violated a Chinese company's intellectual property rights in a case over fonts used in past Windows operating systems. The Beijing Number One Intermediate People's Court ordered Microsoft to stop selling versions of Windows that use the Chinese fonts, including Windows XP. Microsoft plans to appeal the case. Microsoft originally licensed Zhongyi's intellectual property more than a decade ago for use in the Chinese version of Windows 95, according to Zhongyi. Zhongyi argues that agreement applied only to Windows 95, but that Microsoft continued to use the intellectual property in eight versions of Windows from Windows 98 to Windows XP. Vista and Windows 7 are not involved."
Shouldn't Zhongyi have reacted a bit sooner?
If one was really interested in revenue, the very next version ought to have been challenged.
---- Teach Peace. It's Cheaper Than War.
It fascinates me that China thinks they can simultaneously not give a shit about IP in every day practice, yet still think a ruling like this will have credibility.
A Chinese company trying to pinch Microsoft for IP theft. That's funny.
I'm no Microsoft fanboy, but I have to wonder what minuscule percentage of Chinese Windows installations are actually using legit copies of Windows. Based on my few years of time in Beijing and being in Chinese GOVERNMENT offices where every copy of the OS and Office that I saw used a pirated license key (yes, every last one), I can't help but get a big belly laugh out of this.
I'd type this in Chinese, but I fear that would just be piling on. :)
MS should just stop selling Windows in China, it isn't like anybody actually buys it over there anyway.
Yesss... du du du, duh du dut dut Hammertime....
Errr... I mean it is terrible that and IP abuser evil monstrosity... errr a respectable innovator like Microsoft would be the victim an IP attack like this.
In China of all places ROFLMFAO
It's used all over, but no one's paying money for it.
In an ideal world, yes. Each case on its merits and all that but. But if a serial mugger chooses the wrong victim and gets kicked to death then so be it.
Rough justice has a certain poetic appeal, don't you think?
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
And that's why 2010 will be the year of Linux... in China.
Will the capitalist running dog Steve Balmer kowtow to the Chinese after writing a self-criticism?
Pass the eggrolls.....this is going to get interesting.
"The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes
Why fight it? It seems like a much cheaper solution would be for Microsoft to pay a fee for each copy of Windows sold in China.
>Zhongyi argues that agreement applied only to Windows 95
It took them over 10 years to notice their fonts were also being used in 98, 2000, xp, vista, and 7???
Wow, now if this isn't a prime example of the Pot calling th Kettle black, I don't know what is.
I think pointing out the arbitrary nature of law enforcement is ALWAYS relevant to any issue regarding the law.
There's really no way to argue otherwise.
How is this insightful? He didn't even make a coherent point?
Are you saying MS doesn't give a shit about IP?
Why does that matter when they'reneither a sovereign nation nor a court of law, thereby making it impossible for their opinion to be interchangeable with the court of law of a sovereign nation?
Please try to ACTUALLY MAKE A POINT in the future, you totally failed here.
"In most places, the would-be victim would then be up on a manslaughter charge"
No they wouldn't.
Mental note: I must remember to check the the "Anonymous" box when whinging about moderation of my posts.
will be paved with companies that don't think doing business in China is important.
STOP . AMERICA . NOW
"The hypocrisy of China is irrelevant to the issue at hand."
No sir, the law is based on treaties, and I strongly suspect the reciprocal application of the treaty is in fact, a requirement of the law, as it is in most such treaties.
So, if China is NOT applying the law adequately in everyday practice, then MS may very well be ableto use that as evidence that China isn't upholding their end of the treaty.
So, you see, it IS relevant, despite your pontification that it isn't.
Nope, you couldn't possibly be more wrong if you tried.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_United_States#Manufacturing
"USA is the leading manufacturer in the world with a 2007 industrial output of US$2,696,880 millions. Main industries are petroleum, steel, motor vehicles, aerospace, telecommunications, chemicals, electronics, food processing, consumer goods, lumber, mining."
Please educate yourself, so you're not making claims like "At least for us Americans IP is the only thing we still produce DESPITE HAVING THE LARGEST MANUFACTURING OUTPUT OF ANY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD".
Although is it fun to repeatedly inform you people who like to pretend you know what you're talking about that you do not, in fact, have ANY idea WTF you are talking about and have just proven so.
Would you please make it a car analogy?
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
All i can say is "LOL" :D
Who to hate? Talk about Sophie's choice.
Clearly, Microsoft MUST withdraw WIndows 98, ME, 2000, and XP from the Chinese market, and refund the purchase money paid for said products. This should not cost Microsoft very much; after all, there can't have been more than one legitimate copy of each OS sold in-country. Microsoft would then be well-placed to declare all other copies of the affected products in the PRC illegal, and use the automatic-update feature to download a deactivating code. Microsoft should also apologize profusely to the font-sourcing company for the fact that their fonts would then be completely unused, then sell lots of Windows 7 upgrades. Oh wait, they can't actually sell Windows 7 in China, since they can't afford to pay for it due to the manipulated exchange rate for the Yuan.
Did I miss a russian reversal joke somewhere? Chinese government suing over IP infringement?
Vacuum cleaners suck. Kings rule.
I think someone in China would actually have to BUY a copy of Windows first...
I hear that this sort of thing is a capital offense over there.
That is all.
I discuss treaty reciprocity and selective prosecution in a thread about treaties and their prosecution, and some fucking imbecile decides it's "offtopic".
So, Mr. "I'm a fucking imbecile who doesn't know what off topic means", why are you wasting time giving input on a website when YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON AROUND YOU?
"So I think the delay in prosecution was likely reasonable."
Who cares what you think, you openly lie all thetime, like here for instance
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1447608&cid=30137984
So, again,why should anyone care what you think when you'll openly lie about something everyone else can see in black and white?
I mean, you try to flame someone for not getting the point, when YOU YOURSELF COMPLETELY FAIL TO READ THE POSTS THAT PROVE YOU WRONG IN THE VERY THREAD YOU'RE REPLYING TO despite claiming you had?
Why would anyone care what you think?
...when you shoot your mouth off on our TV show.
"You just took a cheap shot at China."
But - China takes cheap shots at every one of us, every day with the trash they are marketing worldwide. How can anyone refrain from taking cheap shots at China?
Here, just have some milk chocolate from China. It'll help you feel better.
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
Seriously.
Over-the-top Response Guy! Giving "Over-the-Top Responses" since 1970.
So, in other words, you have no response to my criticism, which was not about China's legality, or even their hypocrisy, but about the term you actually used in your post, their credibility. Instead of discussing that matter directly, you retreat to supposed safer ground, their alleged failure to uphold certain treaty obligations (from which I suppose you believe it naturally follows that they have no credibility).
You start by deeming with zero evidence that China's "selective prosecution" is done in a manner which is in violation of treaty. We must accept this as a given. Next, you hold forth a pretend legal theory that somehow Microsoft gets to evade a trial court ruling by presenting to...someone...your imaginary fact that China is in flagrant violation. And you're so proud of this little theory you pulled out of your ass that you present it twice, and then quote yourself twice.
Just so we're clear, in your universe, Microsoft, instead of merely filing an appeal, will try to deny compensation to a small font foundry by first getting someone, presumably WIPO, to declare China a treaty scofflaw, and secondly getting WIPO to force China to vacate, overrule or decline to enforce this specific court ruling, and thirdly to have the expectation that they can still do business as usual in China after shitting all over its local laws.
"Irrefutably proven." I'll admit, I am in awe.
There are two kinds of people: 1) those who start arrays with one and 1) those who start them with zero.
Boy are they smart...
I think therefore I can't be ~TTNH
Irony at its finest.
Exactly. And Both Bush I and Reagan had democrat controlled house of reps their entire terms. Still, they shouldn't have given in and signed the budgets including such out of control spending.
Hmm, not so long ago it was "Those evil communists don't respect IP rights...", but now it is bad that they do? Is this not simply because to some people, China simply can't do anything right, no matter what? It works both ways, you know.
The Beijing Number One Intermediate People's Court ordered Microsoft to stop selling versions of Windows that use the Chinese fonts, including Windows XP
So now Microsoft cannot sell Windows 95-XP in China. But wait, Microsoft stopped selling those operating system some time ago. Anywhere.
Very interesting. MS stands to lose nothing, yet they fight this. They're not selling those OS's anymore.
Sure, I can understand why MS would stall until they had completely phased out Windows XP. It wouldn't affect Vista or Windows 7. They'd just have to stop selling XP, which they are doing anyway, but they're still fighting this.
It makes no sense, unless they really think they had the legitimate right to be using the IP.
Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
Meh. Even so, just another reason to force the switch to Windows 7. They didn't have to fight this.
Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.