Andre Yoskowitz
13 Aug 2009 16:51
According to newly leaked emails, it appears that Microsoft knew about i4i's XML patent but decided to go ahead with Word anyways.
"We saw [i4i's products] some time ago and met its creators. Word 11 will make it obsolete," said one email from Martin Sawicki, a member of Microsoft's XML for Word development team. "It looks great for XP though."
The email was written before the release of Office 2003, when Word was in its 11th edition.
Microsoft lost the case yesterday to i4i, and a judge ruled that the software giant must cease selling Word 2003 and 2007 in the United States in 60 days, cutting into a $3 billion revenue business.
Microsoft has a plethora of options, but a few seem most likely if an appeal fails. The company can update Word to circumvent the infringing aspects, which IW explains is the "program's ability to open and read documents that contain custom XML—a form of the Extensible Markup Language format." The company could also settle with i4i for royalties. If anything, Microsoft can buy the patent or the company. Regardless, Word will still be on retail shelves in 60 days.