Microsoft Loses Patent Case

The story, of course, is not over. Microsoft plans to appeal the jury verdict.

MarketWatch reports that the case involves “Microsoft’s anti-piracy registration system,” which I interpret to mean the activation system that came into use with Windows XP. Read the full story here.

An excerpt:

A jury in U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island found that Microsoft’s anti-piracy registration system infringes on a patent owned by security software maker Uniloc Singapore Private Ltd. and its U.S. subsidiary.

The jury based the $388 million award on compensation due to Uniloc dating from Oct. 1, 2003, according to court documents. $194 million of the award is attributable to “foreign activations,” according to court documents

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