Following a series of setbacks in a costly patent dispute, Microsoft is prevailing on the highest court in the land to take its case as it looks to escape a looming $290 million judgment.
The case involves i4i, a small Toronto firm that claims that Microsoft infringed on its patent relating to customer XML technology. Microsoft counters that it brought software to market that used the technology more than a year before i4i applied for its patent.
Now the question is whether the Supreme Court will hear Microsoft’s case. Datamation takes a look.
After the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) declared a rival’s XML patent valid last month, Microsoft’s legal team has decided to shoot the moon, appealing the verdict in its patent infringement suit to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) had said it might appeal to the Supreme Court following its unsuccessful bid to have the entire federal appeals court rehear the patent infringement case in April. The appeal came a month ago after the USPTO declared tiny i4i’s patent valid.