posted on July 25, 2003 08:39:38 AM new
Antoher biggy with patent problems:
Microsoft's Patent Problem
In the biggest patent case ever, the tech giant is getting trounced.
Tuesday, July 22, 2003
Last month, when Microsoft announced its bellwether decision to award employees restricted stock instead of options, it also made news in a federal courtroom—the kind of news you keep quiet about.
Microsoft suffered utter defeat at a crucial pretrial hearing in what appears to be the highest-stakes patent litigation ever—one in which a tiny company called InterTrust Technologies claims that 85% of Microsoft's entire product line infringes its digital security patents. (See Can This Man Bring Down Microsoft?)
InterTrust's engineers developed and patented what they say are key inventions in two areas: so-called digital-rights management and trusted systems. The technologies are essential to the digital distribution of copyrighted music and movies, and to maintaining the security of e-commerce in general. At its prebubble height, InterTrust (founded in 1990) employed 376 people and marketed its own software and hardware products; today it consists mainly of a patent portfolio, 30 employees, and this lawsuit. An investor group led by Sony Corp. of America and Royal Philips Electronics bought the company in January for $453 million, hoping to convince consumer electronics and tech companies—beginning with Microsoft—of the need to license its patents.
Microsoft argued in court that crucial phrases in InterTrust's patents were too vague to be enforceable, and that others required such narrow interpretation that they would have been hard for Microsoft to infringe. But in her July 3 ruling, an Oakland judge resolved 33 of 33 disputed issues against Microsoft and rebuked the company's lawyers for wasting her time by promising proof that never materialized—legal vaporware, in essence.
"This is simply another step in a long legal process," says a Microsoft spokesman, putting the best face on it. "Microsoft will continue to defend itself against what we believe are groundless and overbroad claims."
As agreed before the hearing, the parties now enter a round of settlement talks. Though InterTrust declines to place a pricetag on the suit, it's hard to imagine the company settling now for any sum that does not have a "B" in it. InterTrust claims that its inventions cover technologies that Microsoft has been weaving into its Windows XP operating system, Office XP Suite, Windows Media Player, Xbox videogame console, and .NET networked computing platform, to name just a few. If settlement talks fail and InterTrust prevails in court, it would be entitled to a court order halting sales of all those products. InterTrust CEO Talal Shamoon asks rhetorically, "How much would that be worth to Microsoft?"
posted on July 25, 2003 08:55:50 AM new
Best news I've read in days and days reamond. Where did you find this please? I'll go look myself but a link would be a big help. Sooner or later, M$ and it's bloated, buggy products are going to hit the wall.
___________________________________
What luck for the leaders that men do not think. - Adolph Hitler
Can This Man Bring Down Microsoft?
Maybe not. But Victor Shear's company's patent suit is the biggest legal threat to Microsoft since the antitrust case.
FORTUNE
Tuesday, December 17, 2002
By Roger Parloff
Imagine you had a nickel for every compact disc that's ever been made. The patent holders of the CD technology do have nearly all those nickels. Sony Corp. of America and Royal Philips Electronics get 3 cents for every CD manufactured, plus 3% of the price of every CD player sold.
That's a pretty good revenue stream--several hundred million dollars annually--as is the one that flows to the ten companies that hold the key patents on the DVD. Even the subversive, intangible MP3--that symbol of piracy triumphant--generates money for its patent holders; Thomson Multimedia and the Fraunhofer Institute of Erlangen, Germany, split 75 cents per MP3 player and $3.50 to $5.00 per ripping device.
Now there's a new set of technologies whose royalty stream may eventually swamp those of all its forebears: the so-called trusted systems and digital rights management (DRM) technologies that enable secure transmission of valuable files--audio, video, or text--across digital networks. Thanks to Napster and its ilk, the recording industry and Hollywood have endured a crash course in the importance of DRM. But DRM's potential applications extend far beyond consumer media. Such technologies may eventually be crucial, for instance, to the financial services industry, the health-care sector, law firms, and come to think of it, any company that wants to be able to send proprietary or confidential information over digital networks without worrying that it will wind up posted on YourCompanySucks.com.
Now imagine that one company holds the key patents to the whole shebang--not just methods to secure music and movies, but the entire spectrum of digital commerce. Imagine that revenue stream.
A small Santa Clara, Calif., company called InterTrust Technologies maintains that it is, in fact, that company. Though there are those who dispute this claim, InterTrust has some awfully big players convinced, including consumer electronics giants Sony and Philips. Indeed, in November, the two companies offered to buy InterTrust for $453 million in cash; as FORTUNE goes to press, they are in the process of trying to close the acquisition.
In its current incarnation, InterTrust consists of 39 employees and a patent... Continue
posted on July 25, 2003 04:15:36 PM new
winning 33 out of 33...I'd say InterTrust has done a better job at this point than all of the states who brought suit against MicroSloth over antitrust. The sad thing is, while they may win legal battles, what will happen to them when M$ decides to bring it's financial weight to bear against them? What will happen when their other clients begin dropping off due to pressure from Gates? I wish them well, I really do. Sooner or later, people and businesses will begin to realize that the use of M$ products is unnecessary. The open source movement is growing steadily. There is hope. Even a giant like M$ can be made irrelevant, but it will take individual decisions, one system at a time. Using these fat, slow, leaky unsecure programs because they are "what most of the world uses" is just plain foolish.If 95% of the country drove cars that inexplicably stopped in traffic and needed a safety tune-up monthly, would you buy one because most people are willing to put up with that kind of crappy service? I thought not. End of rant.
___________________________________
What luck for the leaders that men do not think. - Adolph Hitler
posted on July 27, 2003 10:55:40 AM newwhat will happen to them when M$ decides to bring it's financial weight to bear against them
NOTHING will happen to InterTrust's "business". It is a shell company that was purchased just for its intellectual property (patents). I would also think that MS used their full finanacial weight in the trial process, and they still lost.
At its prebubble height, InterTrust (founded in 1990) employed 376 people and marketed its own software and hardware products; today it consists mainly of a patent portfolio, 30 employees, and this lawsuit. An investor group led by Sony Corp. of America and Royal Philips Electronics bought the company in January for $453 million, hoping to convince consumer electronics and tech companies—beginning with Microsoft—of the need to license its patents.
posted on July 27, 2003 01:27:38 PM new
This will come down to Microsoft vs. Sony attorneys! It should be interesting. Microsoft will ultimately pay billions to keep the rights.
posted on July 27, 2003 02:49:31 PM new
You're probably right. They'll pass along the costs to upgraders ,Dell etc...users will ultimately pay for it... Wonder how much Office will cost THEN?? no big....
___________________________________
What luck for the leaders that men do not think. - Adolph Hitler
