Microsoft revs its patent machine
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Company is prolific filer of patent applications, including those for exotic technologies such as a washable keyboard and software that responds to your emotions.
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Grotius writes &quot;As reported in CNET, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (the court that hears patent appeals) heard oral argument in an appeal from a $565 million award against Microsoft for infringing patent rights held by the
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Microsoft made a pledge Tuesday to not assert its patents across 35 web services specifications. In making the move, the company hopes to spur development of new web services, as well as ease developer concerns.
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(InfoWorld) - Any U.S. high school student who has struggled through verb conjugations in Spanish class knows how hard it can be to keep all of the verb forms straight when trying to learn a new language. Now Microsoft Corp. has filed a patent for a technology that may help by automatically conjugating verbs in various languages. According to a patent application Microsoft filed Aug. 31, 2006, to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the company aims to patent a "verb conjugating system" that "allows a user to input a form of a verb and display the verb forms." The system would allow a user to input an infinitive or non-infinitive form of a verb. When a user inputs a non-infinitive form of the verb, the software would identify the corresponding base form of the verb. It then would use that base to display the forms for the verb. Other characteristics of the technology would be to provide verb forms in a certain language when a user enters a verb in that language, and to identify the exact verb when a user enters the spelling for a verb that could pertain to one or more different languages, according to the patent application. The verb-conjugating system may also allow a user to input a phrase that includes a verb, and will display the verb forms corresponding to that verb. It also may detect a misspelling of a verb form and provide suggestions for alternate spellings. According to the filing, the inventors of the technology are Microsoft employees Eric J. Voetberg, Jinsong Yu, Mark D. Stumpf and Robert E. Parkin. In an e-mail statement, David Kaefer, general manager for Microsoft Intellectual Property & Licensing, said that the patent is for software Microsoft is developing that will help people learn new languages. "Just like complex software algorithms can help a user spot flawed grammar or autocorrect spelling, software can help us learn new languages, and weâre building methods to do just that," he said. Kaefer did not say when the software would be completed, or if it would become an actual commercial product on its own or be integrated into another one of Microsoft's products.
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The US Patent Trademark Office has rejected all claims to patents for a Windows file format held by Microsoft. Under a reexamination process initiated earlier this year by the recently formed Public Patent
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A seemingly simple case regarding whether Microsoft had the right to replicate speech recognition software it had licensed -- or rather, thought it had licensed -- from AT&T, and then sell that software abroad as a component of Windows Vista, has exploded into what is now extremely likely to become a landmark case in US patent and copyright law.
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Opinion: In its initial rejection of Microsoft&#39;s claims regarding the FAT file system, the US Patent and Trademark Office seems to be rediscovering a law barring &quot;obvious&quot; patents.
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The move comes at a time when Microsoft is sharpening its own tools and expertise in the area.
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So, the shape of the Great Battle begins to emerge.  As reported by Fortune magazine, Microsoft's general counsel, Brad Smith, reckons free software infringes on no less than 235 of the company's patents:
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Telecommunications giant AT&amp;T and Microsoft took a patent battle to the US Supreme Court Wednesday, in a case that has wide implications for US firms doing business abroad.
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Computer peripheral maker Belkin said Friday it has settled a patent infringement complaintÂ brought against it by software giant Microsoft.
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Microsoft presented oral arguments Wednesday before the U.S. Supreme Court in a 6-year-old patent lawsuit filed by AT&T whose outcome could require U.S. software companies to pay fines for patent-infringing software assembled in other countries.
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The acquisition by Microsoft and Time Warner of a company with a significant portfolio of patents covering digital rights management technologies generates scrutiny by European antitrust regulators. The main focus of the investigation: Microsoft. By Wendy M. Grossman.
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A US jury found that Microsoft infringed audio patents held by the world's biggest software maker Alcatel-Lucent.   Microsoft has been ordered to pay Pounds 778m in damages, however the firm says it may appeal the ruling.   It says the verdict is unsupported by the law or the facts.
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MicrosoftÂ said it will seek to invalidate claims by a California company that has sued it for trademark infringement over the "Office Live" name.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft won a round in its battle with patent licensing company Timeline. On May 29, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington dismissed Timeline's accusations of patent infringement, ruling that Microsoft's patent licensing agreement with Timeline is valid. The case dates back to 2005 when Timeline sued ProClarity for patent infringement. A few months later, Microsoft acquired ProClarity, and shortly after that, Timeline added Microsoft to the ProClarity suit. In the suit, Timeline claimed to have terminated its contract with Microsoft based on breach of contract and charged the software giant with patent infringement. In the May 29 ruling, the judge decided that Timeline couldn't terminate the licensing agreement based on its breach of contract claims. As a result, the court ruled that the licensing agreement was valid and thus Microsoft wasn't infringing on any patents. Since the ruling, Timeline filed a breach of contract suit against Microsoft in Washington State Superior Court, it said in a June 4 press release. It also may appeal the district court ruling. Microsoft lost an earlier separate battle against Timeline. In 2002, an appeals court ruled that Microsoft couldn't allow its customers to combine their own code with Microsoft products if the added code resulted in a process that infringed Timeline's patent. The Timeline patents relate to technology used in database software, and Microsoft used them in its Small Business Financial Manager product. Timeline recently changed its focus from a developer of software applications to a company dedicated to licensing its intellectual property. Timeline did not return calls seeking comment. Microsoft also has not replied to requests for comment.
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Microsoft is fighting a rejection by US patent authorities of a patent for its FAT filesystem, the company said on Thursday. Meanwhile, it&#39;s celebrating a jury decision clearing it of patent infringement charges