Microsoft Banned from Selling Word

A court in Texas has banned the sale of Microsoft’s word processing software Word due to patent infringement by the Canadian company i4i. In addition to banning sale of the product, it has also been fined £175 million.

The patent infringement corncerns the use of XML files to store documents. XML is a mark-up language like HTML but one in which users can define their own tags to stand for parts of the document suhc as price or product. XML is used in Open Source word processing software such as Open Office.

The injunction prohibits microsoft from importing and selling any Word product into the United States which can open XML files, .docx or docm.

Microsoft have 60-days to comply with the ruling but issued a statement that it will be appealling the decision.

More Info