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Microsoft wins right to sell Word | Microsoft wins right to sell Word |
(11 minutes later) | |
Microsoft has overturned a ban on it selling its flagship Word software, imposed after a patent dispute. | Microsoft has overturned a ban on it selling its flagship Word software, imposed after a patent dispute. |
The block was imposed by a Texan court following a ruling that its use of formatting language XML in Word 2003 and 2005 infringed patents. | The block was imposed by a Texan court following a ruling that its use of formatting language XML in Word 2003 and 2005 infringed patents. |
Under the ruling Microsoft was ordered to pay Canadian patent owner i4i $290m (£177m) damages and also told to stop sales of the relevant versions of Word. | Under the ruling Microsoft was ordered to pay Canadian patent owner i4i $290m (£177m) damages and also told to stop sales of the relevant versions of Word. |
The ban on sales was due to come in to force in mid-October. | The ban on sales was due to come in to force in mid-October. |
The ruling was made on 12 August in a Texas court following a long-running dispute between i4i and Microsoft. | |
I4i's patent was filed in 1998 and outlines ways for "manipulating the architecture and the content of a document separately from each other" and invokes XML as a way to let people format text documents. | I4i's patent was filed in 1998 and outlines ways for "manipulating the architecture and the content of a document separately from each other" and invokes XML as a way to let people format text documents. |
XML, or Extensible Markup Language, is a formatting system that preserves the structure of information, such as that in a spreadsheet, as it is passed around and handled by different programs. | |
Following the 12 August ruling Microsoft filed a request to stay the injunction and also asked for the case to be put on a fast track so its appeal could be heard quickly. | |
The US court said Microsoft had met the conditions needed to grant the stay. Arguments in Microsoft's appeal against the earlier ruling are due to be heard on 23 September. | The US court said Microsoft had met the conditions needed to grant the stay. Arguments in Microsoft's appeal against the earlier ruling are due to be heard on 23 September. |
"We are happy with the result and look forward to presenting our arguments on the main issues on September 23," said Kevin Kutz, a Microsoft spokesman, in a statement. | "We are happy with the result and look forward to presenting our arguments on the main issues on September 23," said Kevin Kutz, a Microsoft spokesman, in a statement. |