The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear Microsoft's appeal of a $290 million patent infringement judgment that forced the company to revamp its popular Word software earlier this year.
However, a patent expert said that it's unlikely Microsoft would ultimately prevail and get the multimillion-dollar judgment overturned.
"This case has potentially great significance, but in all likelihood, the Supreme Court will not completely upend nearly 30 years of U.S. patent jurisprudence," said Barry Negrin, a partner at New York law firm Pryor Cashman LLP who has practiced patent and trademark law for more than 15 years.
The case, which began in 2007 when Canadian developer i4i sued Microsoft in federal court, resulted in a record judgment against Microsoft last year after a Texas jury held that the company illegally used i4i's XML editing technology in Word.
More: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9198398/
However, a patent expert said that it's unlikely Microsoft would ultimately prevail and get the multimillion-dollar judgment overturned.
"This case has potentially great significance, but in all likelihood, the Supreme Court will not completely upend nearly 30 years of U.S. patent jurisprudence," said Barry Negrin, a partner at New York law firm Pryor Cashman LLP who has practiced patent and trademark law for more than 15 years.
The case, which began in 2007 when Canadian developer i4i sued Microsoft in federal court, resulted in a record judgment against Microsoft last year after a Texas jury held that the company illegally used i4i's XML editing technology in Word.
More: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9198398/