i4i steps up MS patent fight
The company filed 22 amicus, or 'friend of the court,' briefs from various companies, venture capitalists and even the US government itself.
The briefs all argue against Microsoft's appeal for revising the burden of proof in patent challenges, according to an announcement issued by i4i earlier this week.
The 33-page March amicus filing by attorneys at the US Department of Justice and US Patent and Trademark Office simply concludes that “the decision of the court of appeals [in the i4i versus Microsoft case] should be affirmed”.
However, Microsoft has its own list of big names lined up behind it as both sides gear up to argue the case in front of the US Supreme Court, reports Datamation.
At issue is more than whether Microsoft infringed Toronto-based i4i's patent for 'custom XML editors' in older versions of Office and Microsoft Word. At stake is the standard by which patents are declared valid or invalid.
Besides the US government, among the other parties that have filed so-called amicus briefs on i4i's behalf are 3M, Proctor & Gamble, General Electric, the Biotechnology Industry, Genentech, and Roche Diagnostics.
Meanwhile, the Financial Post states that patents related to new technologies can often be very short and lacking in specific detail, making patent disputes a common occurrence in the hi-tech industry in particular.
What Microsoft is seeking as part of its appeal, according to i4i chairman Loudon Owen, is a change in law that will make it easier for patents to be invalidated.
“Instead of having a patent proven [invalid] by clear and convincing evidence, [Microsoft] wants to change it to a much lighter standard of mere preponderance,” Owen says.
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