Well not really… but the mighty may have been dinged! A tiny Toronto based software manufacturer has successfully sued Microsoft, winning $290 million!
The 30-person firm called i4i won a judgment today against the powerhouse computer company Microsoft. The US federal appeals court decision was a long awaited victory for the small firm.
The journey began two years ago when the company sued Microsoft claiming it violated a patent with certain features found in Word 2003 and Word 2007. In August 2009, a Texas jury agreed with i4i and ordered Microsoft to pay 290 million in damages and stop selling Word in the U.S.
The decision was soon appealed by Microsoft, but today the federal appeals court upheld the judgment, issuing an injunction. The injunction prevents Microsoft from selling versions of Word that contains the patent in question. The ruling will take effect on January 11th.
Here is how they took down Microsoft:
1. i4i first step was to correctly protect their property. They filed for the patent in the US in 1994 and was issued patent no. 5,787,449 in 1998.
2. They worked tirelessly to prepare their case before they took it to the legal eagles. They spent a lot of time gathering every single detail.
3. They continued to run their company while they prepared the case. i4i did their best to make sure employees were not distracted and ensured clients that they had a solid future despite the outcome of the case.
4. They choose the right battle field. i4i made a decision to have the case heard in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Neither i4i nor Microsoft has headquarters there, but typically a lot of high-tech cases are tried there.
5. The company put thier money where their mouth was and paid to play with the big buys. The case cost them $10 million in legal fees.
“[A lawsuit] is a complete and utter commitment,” says Chairman of i4i Loudon Owen. “It’s not something to be taken lightly. The deposition process, the cross-examination, the whole series of allegations — it’s a very tough process to go through.”
Congrats to i4i for standing up to Bill Gates and claiming what is rightfully theirs. I guess it is an eye for (an) eye.
Richtastic
www.Richtastic.com
(Image Via Business Week)
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