Texas Judge Rules That Microsoft Cannot Sell Word In The United States

We’re going through a recession people, but we still have to make money. It’s harder now than in the previous years, but it’s possible. The easiest way to make money now is to sue Microsoft. Yeah, find something about Microsoft that bothers you (and likely others), find a Judge which is a Mac fanboy, and just throw them a lawsuit. Yesterday, a Judge in Texas ruled that Microsoft will not sell MS Word in the United States anymore.

To put it this way: i41i Inc., a company in Toronto, sued Microsoft over a patent infringement which concerns the XML patents. Microsoft lost the suit, and now the company has been banned to sell Microsoft Word in the US. They have 60 days to comply with the ruling, but I’m sure Microsoft will reach an agreement with i4i Inc.

The ruling of the Texas Judge says that Microsoft cannot sell or import Word products which can open .XML, .DOCX, and other DOCM files which contain custom XML. Microsoft has been banned to market all products including Microsoft Word 2003, Microsoft Word 2007, and future Microsoft Word products which are capable of opening files with custom XML.

What will Microsoft do without its Office jewel? You probably know that Microsoft Office 2010 will be released soon, but without Word I don’t know if the product is coming to the US. Let’s just wait for things to calm down, and for Microsoft to write a check based on several zeros.

via Mashable