Court Gives Microsoft A Massive Finger Wag

Earlier this month, a the U.S. District Court in Texas issued an injunction to stop Microsoft Corp. from selling its hugely successful MS Word in this country after a jury found that the company violated a patent belonging to small Toronto firm i4i LP.

Judge Leonard Davis ordered the behemoth to pay $290M for knowingly violating a patent with MS Word 2003 and Word 2007 word processing software. The injunction gives Microsoft 60 days to comply and prevents the company from using any of the patented technology in any of its current or future versions of Word.

The jury had awarded $200M in damages in May, but the judge had the authority to increase the amount and bar Microsoft from using the technology if the court concluded that the corporation had "willfully" violated the patent.

Microsoft will be appealing the verdict.