Text 10892, 44 rader
Skriven 2006-04-29 20:39:54 av Geo (1:379/45)
Ärende: Hoisted by their own petard?
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From: "Geo" <georger@nls.net>

Microsoft and Autodesk infringed patents, jury rules z4 Technologies awarded
$133m
By OUT-LAW.COM

Published Friday 21st April 2006 09:13 GMT

An entrepreneur has been awarded $133m by a jury in a Texas courtroom after
winning his claim that two of his anti-piracy software patents were infringed
by Microsoft's Office and Windows XP, and Autodesk's AutoCAD programs.

David Colvin is founder of z4 Technologies Inc, a digital rights management
company based in "Automation Alley", the high-tech centre of Michigan. The
company exists to prevent infringement - and on a page of its website includes
quotes from both Microsoft and Autodesk about the pest of piracy.

Colvin obtained patents for methods of assigning passwords and codes to
individual copies of software to prevent unauthorised use. This week, Microsoft
was ordered to pay him $115m and Autodesk $18m. The impact on their respective
products is unknown.

Microsoft spokesperson Rachel Wayne told OUT-LAW.COM: "While we are
disappointed with this verdict, we continue to contend that there was no
infringement of any kind and that the facts in this case show that Microsoft
developed its own product activation technologies well before z4 Technologies
filed for its patent.

"We will await resolution of all issues by the trial court before we make any
decisions."

According to Reuters, Microsoft awaits the court's decision on another point:
whether z4 Technologies knowingly withheld information from the US Patent and
Trademark Office about other companies' product activation technologies when
submitting its patent applications.

In a separate decision earlier this week, a federal appeals court ruled that
customers who bought computers with Microsoft's software preinstalled, or who
bought its programs through a reseller, can't sue the Redmond company for
anti-trust violations. Twenty-six plaintiffs were seeking up to $10bn in
damages, but lost because they were indirect purchasers.

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