Is Microsoft Poised to Sue OpenOffice Licensees?
Fear has been mounting in the open source community that Microsoft could start suing users any time for alleged patent violations.
That possibility became even more worrisome to some with a new disclosure by Sun this week regarding terms of its sweeping legal settlement with Microsoft, hammered out earlier this year.
According to the settlement between the two, Microsoft and Sun agreed not to sue each other or their respective customers for patent infringements that were alleged to have occurred before April 2004, as well as 10 years into the future.
But a new Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing by Sun notes in the fine print that while Sun's StarOffice product is covered under this patent-infringement clause, OpenOffice is not. Not only is Microsoft allowed to sue any company – including Sun – for alleged patent violations connected with OpenOffice, but Sun is required to provide Microsoft with legal help in bringing such lawsuits against OpenOffice users.
