Microsoft Banned from selling Word in the United States

[Llama Juice]

Hmm, I guess I didn't word it properly. I didn't look at it that way, Llama. I suppose they're really the only failsafes from large corporations taking over everything. It just ticks me off when you have to pay royalties for the stupidest patents.

YOU don't have to pay anything twards it haha, M$ does for using someone else's technology. I see it as how Epic gets paid for letting other people use the Unreal engine for their games. (I know that's now how it works, there's licenses and all that, and well... it's a similar situation)

It's just like how Activision pays Konami to use the guitar style controller for their Guitar Hero games. (Dunno if they do anymore, they used to for GH1-3 at least)

There's a pretty fucking thick line between getting a deserved share in it and just being a self-righteous fuckhead

In all honesty if you saw the opportunity to get your company a huge huge huge boost in profits off of a technology YOU made, wouldn't you jump on the opportunity? I know I would, just like Epic would sue the fuck out of another company if they used the UT3 engine without a license for it.

Moral of the story? Don't steal other people's shit.

That is, I'm just assuming this whole situation is valid. I'm not really talking specifically to this case, just the idea in general when this shit happens and screams bloody murder over some company expecting to get paid for work it did.

[rossmum]

I'd try and figure out a less dick way of getting my share, that's for sure. Suing? Fine. Getting it pulled from sale? A little extreme, especially since you could've gone down the royalties road and made a lot more over time.

[Kornman00]

A little extreme, especially since you could've gone down the royalties road and made a lot more over time.

Not to mention one of their products is for MS Word

[rossmum]

...

welp, shrewd move guys!!

[El Lobo]

Risky move Cotton, lets see if it works out for them.

[Con]

Maybe we'll just get a plugin or something?

[IceCube]

Well, microsoft knew about the patents that they were going over and didnt care. Microsoft should have went and talked with the company about the product instead of releasing and then going to court because they were not allowed to use certain coding for there program.
Alteast for once, a small company is able to fight a million dollar money making company and win. Heh.

[Cojafoji]

this thing will just end up passing under the radar in a month or two when microsoft either a. drags them out through the litigation process of an appeal in a higher court until they can phase out the xml in a newer product, or b. settle and purchase the patent.

[Amit]

Well, microsoft knew about the patents that they were going over and didnt care. Microsoft should have went and talked with the company about the product instead of releasing and then going to court because they were not allowed to use certain coding for there program.
Alteast for once, a small company is able to fight a million dollar money making company and win. Heh.

You mean a billion dollar-making company. Who said anything about them winning? In a lawsuit of this magnitude, rarely does one side outright win. A compromise is usually made. I highly doubt that Microsoft won't be selling one of their flagship software products in their home country in future years. They'll find a way around it. Not that I care since I'm only from the country that they're getting shafted from so I can still get my Office suite.

[Advancebo]

So what happens to our current copies of Word?