Microsoft's Word patent case to hit appeal court next month

XML-rated headache for Redmond

A US federal court will hear Microsoft’s Word injunction appeal on 23 September.

i4i, the company that secured a major victory against MS earlier this month, confirmed the hearing late last week.

On 11 August a judge for the US District Court of Eastern Texas ordered Microsoft to stop shipments of Word in 60 days time, after it was found to have violated an XML patent held by Toronto, Canada-based i4i.

"We firmly believe that the US District Court made the right decision on the merits of the case," said i4i chairman Loudon Owen in a statement to CNet. "We are confident that we will prevail on the appeal."

"This is a vital case for inventors and entrepreneurial companies who, like i4i, are damaged by the wilful infringement of their patents by competitors; particularly competitors as large and powerful as Microsoft," said Owen.

Microsoft, which is losing more than $100,000 per day until the date of final judgment of damages is due, had pushed for the court to allow for a speedy appeal.

“As we’ve maintained throughout this process, we believe the evidence clearly demonstrates that we do not infringe and that the i4i patent is invalid. We look forward to filing our appeal and to Court of Appeals review,” a Microsoft legal spokesman told ZDNet. ®