San Francisco (CA) – Hewlett Packard and Dell have launched a legal blitzkrieg against i4i in an effort to overturn an injunction blocking the sale of Microsoft Word. The two industry heavyweights are now demanding that a federal judge reconsider the controversial ban or delay its implementation.
However, i4i Chairman Loudon Owen told TG Daily that the legal filings by Dell and HP “added very little, if anything to what is already in the case.”
Owen also commented on Microsoft’s official appeal which was filed on August 25, 2009.
“The appeal brief filed by Microsoft is an extraordinary document. It captures the hostile attitude of Microsoft toward inventors who dare to enforce patents against them. It is also blatantly derogatory about the Court system,” said Owen.
“We sought and received the protection of the court so we can compete on a level playing field, and run our business without infringement by the Defendant Microsoft. Microsoft was proven to have willfully infringed on i4i’s [#5,787,449] patent.”
Owen explained that his company did not possess the “gargantuan” financial resources of Microsoft, but noted that it did have the “protection of fairness” provided by the US Justice system.
“Microsoft is not above the law. It cannot privately expropriate i4i’s patented invention. We firmly believe the decision of the jury and judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas was correct on the facts and we shall prevail on appeal,” added Owen.
See also
i4i pledges to ‘vigorously enforce’ XML patent as Microsoft appeals injunction
Microsoft appeals in XML patent row
i4i ‘not interested’ in bringing Microsoft to its knees
Judge’s injunction hammer comes down on Microsoft Word’s head
Microsoft forced to cough up $200 million
