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Microsoft Word deleted
UPI ^ | December 23, 2009

Posted on 12/24/2009 1:17:25 AM PST by myknowledge

WASHINGTON, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Microsoft lost its appeal Tuesday against a lower court ruling that it had infringed the patent of small Canadian software company i4i, proving that the fight is not always to the strong.

A three-judge federal appellate panel ordered the software giant to stop sales of its popular Word word processing program in its current form on Jan. 11 and to pay i4i $290 million.

"In this case, a small company was practicing its patent, only to suffer a loss of market share, brand recognition, and customer goodwill as the result of the defendant's infringing acts," the ruling said.

(Excerpt) Read more at upi.com ...


TOPICS: Canada; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; US: Washington
KEYWORDS: i4i; microsoft; microsoftword; sourcecode
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Looks like you no longer have a word processor for the next generations of Micro$oft Window$ operating systems. Better make do with Wordpad or Notepad.


1 posted on 12/24/2009 1:17:25 AM PST by myknowledge
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To: myknowledge

Word.


2 posted on 12/24/2009 1:28:29 AM PST by cripplecreek (Seniors, the new shovel ready project under socialized medicine.)
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To: myknowledge

Thankfully, my processor has always been Word Perfect, though by many to be a step ahead of Word.


3 posted on 12/24/2009 1:29:43 AM PST by Seniram US (Quote of the Day: Smile You're An American)
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To: fanfan; ShadowAce; bamahead

fyi


4 posted on 12/24/2009 1:49:16 AM PST by rabscuttle385 (Purge the RINOs! * http://restoretheconstitution.ning.com/)
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To: myknowledge

OpenOffice.org rules.


5 posted on 12/24/2009 2:10:27 AM PST by familyop (cbt. engr. (cbt), NG, '89-' 96, Duncan Hunter or no-vote)
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To: myknowledge

According to more than a few big corporates, their employees don’t have the skills necessary to use a word processor other than Word. Will they be deleted, too, or will we have to wait until the big default occurs? And what of the millions of terribly unskilled workers (and unemployable, according to our free traitor overlords) who are able to switch from one package or operating system to another on the fly? ;-)


6 posted on 12/24/2009 2:15:02 AM PST by familyop (cbt. engr. (cbt), NG, '89-' 96, Duncan Hunter or no-vote)
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To: myknowledge
proving that the fight is not always to the strong

Good God...no bias here, eh?

7 posted on 12/24/2009 2:20:21 AM PST by Future Snake Eater ("Get out of the boat and walk on the water with us!”--Sen. Joe Biden)
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To: familyop

Microsoft already had contingency plans in place should it lose the case. Versions of Word 2007 with the offending feature removed will be ready for sale by the time the injunction starts.

Microsoft said the ruling will not delay the rollout of Word 2010.

8 posted on 12/24/2009 2:21:12 AM PST by elli1
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To: myknowledge

The way I read this, they can no longer sell it, but what does it mean to all the people who have bought and installed it already?

Does it cover the Mac versions of the program?


9 posted on 12/24/2009 2:49:43 AM PST by Ronin
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To: Ronin
Does it cover the Mac versions of the program?

Nope.

10 posted on 12/24/2009 3:34:47 AM PST by Swordmaker (Remember, the proper pronunciation of IE isAAAAIIIIIEEEEEEE!)
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To: myknowledge

Given Microsoft’s previous actions in such lawsuits, they will most likely buy out the plaintiff.


11 posted on 12/24/2009 3:40:35 AM PST by pnh102 (Regarding liberalism, always attribute to malice what you think can be explained by stupidity. - Me)
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To: Seniram US
Thankfully, my processor has always been Word Perfect, though by many to be a step ahead of Word.

The classic "Word Perfect Technical Support Call (TM)"

End User: Hi. I seem to be having some problems with my Word Perfect 5.1.

Word Perfect Tech: It seems to be working just fine here...

Mark

12 posted on 12/24/2009 4:53:36 AM PST by MarkL (Do I really look like a guy with a plan?)
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To: myknowledge

A patent case of robbery.


13 posted on 12/24/2009 4:55:25 AM PST by Glenn (Free Venezuela!)
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To: familyop

Will it open Word 2007 documents?


14 posted on 12/24/2009 4:57:46 AM PST by Yardstick
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To: Swordmaker
Does it cover the Mac versions of the program?

Nope.

Why not? Does the Mac version not have the offending code?

15 posted on 12/24/2009 5:14:18 AM PST by Fresh Wind ("...a whip of political correctness strangles their voice"-Vaclav Klaus on GW skeptics)
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To: Fresh Wind

Microsoft Word (stolen by MS from another company) Price? $700

OpenOffice (developed by the public) Price? Free


16 posted on 12/24/2009 5:26:43 AM PST by WaterBoard
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To: WaterBoard

Thank you for your informative answer.


17 posted on 12/24/2009 5:45:46 AM PST by Fresh Wind ("...a whip of political correctness strangles their voice"-Vaclav Klaus on GW skeptics)
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To: pnh102

Damn near all of MS’s early “innovations” were the theft of some other companies work, Gates didn’t have a contract with the actual owner of DOS when he signed the contract with IBM ,, DR-DOS is the most recognizable theft however at around the time .. MS-EXCEL was a direct clone of “visiCALC” ,, of course at the time it was such a simple program and an obvious concept the IBMer that invented it didn’t patent it. I don’t remember whose defrag program MS stole and then paid off the owner after they broke him.

I have no problem ignoring MS’s claims to ownership.


18 posted on 12/24/2009 6:16:41 AM PST by Neidermeyer
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To: WaterBoard
Microsoft Word (stolen by MS from another company) Price? $700

FYI, Word 2007 is $229 on the Microsoft website.

19 posted on 12/24/2009 6:21:52 AM PST by Fresh Wind ("...a whip of political correctness strangles their voice"-Vaclav Klaus on GW skeptics)
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To: myknowledge

Mixed feelings here. As someone who works in the software industry my take is that the overly loose US patent laws where software is concerned are stifling creativity. OTOH, as a Canadian, having watched RIM get hosed in US courts based on a rather marginal patent claim, I enjoy seeing one of ours hosing down Microsoft in a similar way.


20 posted on 12/24/2009 6:44:24 AM PST by -YYZ- (Strong like bull, smart like ox.)
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