Hearing set for appeal of Word injunction

From CNET News.com: A federal appeals court has scheduled a hearing next month to decide whether to uphold a ruling that would force Microsoft to stop selling Word in its current form.

A district court judge last week issued an injunction that would halt sales of any version of Word that includes a custom XML function that was found by a jury to infringe on a patent from Canada's I4i. In May, that jury also dinged Microsoft with $200 million in damages, an amount that the judge hiked to more than $290 million at the same time he ordered the injunction, which he scheduled to go into effect 60 days after the Aug. 11 ruling.

In a statement, I4i said that Microsoft's appeal will be heard on Sept. 23. Microsoft had asked for an expedited hearing on the matter.

"We firmly believe that the U. S. District Court made the right decision on the merits of the case," I4i Chairman Loudon Owen said in a statement. "We are confident that we will prevail on the appeal."

View: Article @ Source Site