'Easy workaround' could solve Microsoft Word's legal woes, says expert

From InfoWorld: Microsoft can likely sidestep a recent injunction by a Texas federal judge that bars the company from selling Word with an "easy technical workaround," a patent attorney said today.

"The injunction doesn't apply to existing product that has already been sold," said Barry Negrin, a partner with the New York firm Pryor Cashman LLP who has practiced patent and trademark law for 17 years.

"Headlines that say Microsoft can't sell Word are not really true," said Negrin, pointing out that the injunction granted by U.S. District Court Judge Leonard Davis on Tuesday only prohibits Microsoft from selling Word as it exists now after Oct. 10. "All Microsoft has to do is disable the custom XML feature, which should be pretty easy to do, then give that a different SKU number from what's been sold so it's easy to distinguish the two versions."

Microsoft does not need to provide an update to users running already-purchased copies of Word 2003 and Word 2007, the two versions that Davis barred the company from marketing after it lost a patent infringement case brought by Toronto-based i4i in 2007. Those copies' infringements have already been "paid for" by the $200 million in damages, and another $12 million in damages from the jury verdict in May until this week.

In May, a jury awarded i4i $200 million in damages for infringing an i4i patent; Davis tacked on additional damages and interest to bring the total to nearly $300 million.

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