Why Microsoft Word won't disappear after 'landmark ruling'

The news that a judge has slapped an injunction that could bar Microsoft from selling its flagship Word software is a big deal. But don't expect to see Redmond allow one of its key money makers to be pulled from the market - even for a day.

As part of a patent infringement case that also resulted in a huge monetary judgment back in May, a federal judge in Texas this week ordered Microsoft to stop selling any versions of Word that use a custom XML tagging technology. The ruling is set to go into effect in 60 days.

That gives Microsoft two months to pursue an appeal, craft a settlement, or implement a technical workaround that removes the technology found to be infringing.

Don't expect to see Word disappear any time soon (Photo credit: Microsoft)

The company is definitely appealing the case, as it said in a statement on Tuesday. The appellate court has the option of holding off on the injunction, but is not compelled to, as Microsoft makes its appeal.

In any case, the one thing I would be fairly certain of is that Microsoft will do whatever it has to to keep Word on the market.

For its part, Microsoft declined to comment beyond its statement.

"We are disappointed by the court's ruling," spokesman Kevin Kutz said. "We believe the evidence clearly demonstrated that we do not infringe and that the i4i patent is invalid. We will appeal the verdict."

I'd expect that Microsoft is working in Word right now to get that appeal ready.

The chairman of the company that won the landmark injunction against Microsoft says his goal is not to see Microsoft Word pulled from store shelves.

In fact, I4i chairman Loudon Owen said he is one of the hundreds of millions of people who uses Word and the other Microsoft Office tools every day.

"We're not seeking to stop Microsoft's business and we're not seeking to interfere with all the users of Word out there," Owen said on Wednesday. He added that this week's ruling orders an injunction only against Word shipping in a form that uses I4i's custom XML technology.

Although he couldn't comment on such a technical workaround, Owen said he would be happy to see Microsoft come out with a version of Word that removes the infringing technology.

"The injunction is not saying there is no more Word for the world," Owen said. "That is not our intention and that would not be a sensible remedy."

As for the size of the monetary verdict in the Word case, Owen wouldn't say how it compares to the company's annual revenue, but noted it is a big deal.

"It's obviously a material verdict by US patent verdict [standards], but we think it is fair," he said.

But Owen said I4i's focus is on its products, not on the courts. Owen said I4i's mission is trying to make database-ready all of the world's unstructured information. Only about 10 per cent of data today is structured, but XML can change that.

The company, which has about 30 employees and has been running since 1993, has products in use by a number of large companies, including many large pharmaceutical names such as Amgen, Bayer and Biogen.

Interestingly, though, one of the company's biggest projects was its 2001 overhaul of the US Patent and Trademark Office's own website for patent submissions. The patent involved in its suit against Microsoft, though, was filed in 1994 and granted in 1998.

Owen said he couldn't comment on whether there have been any recent settlement talks. Asked whether there might be room for some sort of partnership between the two companies, Owen quipped: "Microsoft is too big for us to buy at this point."

He then added that the company's goal is to help structure the world's information and it will do whatever it takes to reach that goal. "We are always ready willing and able to partner with any good partner, whoever that is."

Owen, who is co-founder of the Mclean Watson venture capital firm that backs i4i, does have some experience negotiating with Microsoft. According to his bio on that firm's Web site, he helped finance and advice 3D animation firm Softimage, which was sold to Microsoft in 1994.

Original article: Microsoft unlikely to let Word injunction stand from CNET News.com