Microsoft Wins Emergency Stay of Judge's Ban on Word Product Sales
A federal appeals court has granted Microsoft’s emergency appeal of a Texas federal judge’s order that would have banned the computer Goliath from continuing to sell some Word software products next month unless they could be reconfigured to avoid infringing on a Canadian company’s patent.
In a ruling late yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit stayed the U.S. District Court order. Meanwhile, a fast-track appeal on the merits continues, with oral arguments scheduled for Sept. 23, reports Computerworld.
Both Dell and Hewlett Packard filed friend-of-the-court briefs in the appeal, arguing that the Word revisions required by U.S. District Court Judge Leonard Davis would also require extensive, time-consuming work on their own part to reconfigure personal computers that use Word software.
Additional coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Microsoft Gets Expedited Appeal of Judge’s Ban on Some Word Product Sales”
Microsoft Blog (Seattle Post-Intelligencer): “Court grants Microsoft’s motion to stay Word injunction”
Reuters: “U.S. appeals court stays Microsoft Word injunction”
