Microsoft Loses i4i Case

Looks like Microsoft is paying I4i whether it likes it or not.

The Supreme Court on Thursday handed the company a stinging defeat in its long-running patent dispute with the software developer which sued in in 2007 claiming infringement of a patented technology Microsoft incorporated into Word 2003 and Word 2007.

In a unanimous decision, the court upheld the $290 million judgment leveled against Microsoft in 2009 saying essentially that it’s not the court’s place to recalibrate the standard for proof for patent validity.

“According to Microsoft, a defendant in an infringement action need only persuade the jury of an invalidity defense by a preponderance of the evidence. In the alternative, Microsoft insists that a preponderance standard must apply at least when an invalidity defense rests on evidence that was never considered by the PTO [Patent and Trademarks Office] in the examination process,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in the court’s opinion. “We reject both contentions.”

And if Microsoft has an issue with that, it needs to take it up with Congress.

“Not once, so far as we (and Microsoft) are aware, has [Congress] even considered a proposal to lower the standard of proof,” Sotomayor added. “…Any recalibration of the standard of proof remains in its hands.”

Microsoft said it was disappointed by the Court’s ruling. “While the outcome is not what we had hoped for, we will continue to advocate for changes to the law that will prevent abuse of the patent system,” a company spokesman said in a statement.