See you in the Supreme Court: Gates ups the ante

Microsoft has asked the highest court in America to overturn the ruling that the company had abused its monopoly position in the desktop operating system market.

The company filed a petition for a Supreme Court review of the case yesterday. Microsoft's lawyers claim that the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia made an error when failing to dismiss all the findings of the controversial Judge Thomas Penfold Jackson.

Jackson's decision that Microsoft had indeed acted illegally stood following an appeals court review, despite the judge's lack of candour in secretly briefing journalists during the four month trial.

Judges in the appeals court said he had "destroyed the appearance of impartiality" - but refused to reverse his key finding.

And so Microsoft has turned to the Supreme Court. Its petition reads: "The court of appeals' deference to the district judge's findings of fact in this important, highly visible case despite the appearance of partiality created by [Jackson's] secret discussions with reporters can only erode public confidence in the judicial system."

It also claimed that a failure to overrule Jackson would result in "manifest injustice to Microsoft".

In a separate move, Microsoft has also asked a federal appeals court to delay an order that would send the case back to a lower court to determine precisely what remedial action should be taken against the company to prevent future antitrust violations.

Many observers have interpreted these latest legal manouvres as a delaying tactic by Microsoft to ensure the launch of Windows XP - scheduled for October - continues as planned.