Microsoft Antipiracy Technology Is Patent Thief
Some court rulings are just rich with irony. Today a jury found that Microsoft infringed on Uniloc patents for product activation. Microsoft uses the technology to protect its software from theft. Who's stealing from whom?
I expect to read lots of comments on this blog praising today's jury verdict, which ordered Microsoft to pay Uniloc $388 million. Gauging from comments to past posts about product activation, many of you don't much like it.
The case could be an episode on some TV legal drama. Uniloc filed the patent dispute in late Sept. 2003. About three years later, U.S. District Judge William Smith issued summary judgment for Microsoft, which Uniloc appealed. In August 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit sent the case back to trial, overruling the judge.
