In the brutal patent courts of East Texas, Microsoft may have met its Waterloo. A patent judge granted an injunction that gives Microsoft just
60 days to remove the XML language from its Microsoft Word software. Microsoft appealed the decision with this dire warning:Unless Microsoft is able to redesign Word and push that redesigned version through its entire distribution network by October 10... Microsoft and its distributors (which includes retailers such as Best Buy and OEMs such as HP and Dell) face the imminent possibility of a massive disruption in their sales.
Microsoft says the injunction would also prevent distribution of its entire Microsoft Office suite, which contains Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Publisher, and Word.
Patent courts in East Texas are well known to be plaintiff-friendly. They find for the plaintiff about 45% of the time, versus 25% of the time in the rest of the country. Most judges don't see 40 patent cases in 10 years. The judges in East Texas average more than 130.
My guess is a compromise of some sort will get XML out of Word, while allowing Microsoft to remain in business. XML's owner, a small Toronto company ironically named I4I, would probably take cash... maybe a share in Word revenues for the next several months until Microsoft can excise the offensive code.