Andre Yoskowitz
18 Nov 2009 16:55
Beijing's leading Intermediate People's Court has ruled today that Microsoft must immediately cease sales of the Chinese versions of Windows 98, 2000, 2003 and XP after it was found that the OSs include fonts created by a local Chinese company, violating licensing agreements.
The ruling should cause a precedent in the region. "(Chinese firms) are going to think of China as a place to have their own litigation strategy, I think that's a trend that's coming," says Michael Vella, head of China litigation and intellectual property rights at Morrison & Foerster LLP. "We saw it in Taiwan. At first, Taiwanese companies were always on the defensive, and in recent years we have seen them initiating litigation."
The ruling specifically stated that Microsoft violated licensing agreements with Zhongyi Electronic, the company which had designed the Chinese character fonts.
Microsoft is prepared to appeal. "Microsoft respects intellectual property rights. We use third party IPs only when we have a legitimate right to do so," read a company press release.
Overall however, the decision will likely not affect Microsoft's bottom line in any way, given the high (80 percent-plus) piracy rates of the operating systems in China and the age of the operating systems in question.