Microsoft lost their case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit which would have stopped the ban of their Microsoft Word and Office products. The patent infringement which was brought about by XML specialists i4i in May 2009 specifically targets how those programs handle a specific XML algorithm.

According to Engadget i4i holds the patent that Microsoft was using to handle .xml, .docx and .docm files, specifically how they handle the algorithms for those file types. While the court originally ruled in favor of i4i Microsoft had appealed the ruling and the barring of sales was stopped. It’s still unclear if Microsoft will once again appeal the decision or ask that it be moved to the U.S. Supreme Court or even settle with i4i.

For Office users who may be curious, i4i isn’t a “patent troll” but rather a company of 30 developers who actually revamped the entire USPTO database for XML file compatibility for MS Word in 2000. i4i also doesn’t hold the full XML patent, just some of the algorithm used to read and write custom XML files.

In response to the decision Microsoft released a statement in which they said Office 2007 and Word 2007 versions that don’t use the “little-used” XML feature will be available for sale by January 11th, while stating that Office 2010 beta “does not contain the technology covered by the injunction.”

Here’s my question to Microsoft. Why even both to include it if it’s a “little used” function? This whole issue could have been avoided by realizing that fact during the build process.

Word and Office Banned For Sale Starting January 11th After Microsoft Loses Appeal is a post from: The Inquisitr

Mark this up in the column of “damn that has got to hurt” but Microsoft lost in a federal appeals court today when a $209 million judgement against the software giant was upheld and an injunction against the sale of their cash cow software package Word was issued.

The injunction is set to go into effect on January 11, 2010 and would stop the sale of all current versions of Microsoft Word and Microsoft Office.

Microsoft had appealed a Texas jury verdict in favor of i4i Inc., a Toronto company. The jury found recent versions of Microsoft Word infringed on a software patent.

Microsoft has said that it and the public will both suffer if Word goes off the market while the company devises a workaround. The court said the decision does not affect copies of the programs sold before the injunction goes into effect, so Microsoft can still provide technical support to the old versions even if they infringe on the patent.

Source: Yahoo News

I have a sneaking feeling that there are some Microsoft lawyers who won’t be seeing any bonuses or time with their families over the holidays.

BREAKING – Microsoft slapped hard by court: Can’t sell Word is a post from: The Inquisitr

Online office platform provider Zoho has released Zoho Writer 2.0, with a makeover that makes it more Microsoft Word like.

The new interface includes was Zoho calls the “MenuTab.” The MenuTab interface categorizes features as tabs based on functionality, include Format, Insert, Review and more. The tabs are used as Menus, quite purposely in a way reminiscent of the Ribbon bar in Microsoft Word 2007.

The sidebar has also had a makeover, with the ability to multi-select documents and perform actions.

The aim of the game in online office packages has always been appealing to existing software users to switch across, and delivering interfaces that are familiar is key to that. A decent upgrade for what was already a smart service.

More details on the Zoho blog here.

Zoho Writer refresh delivers a more Microsoft Word like experience is a post from: The Inquisitr