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**Zfdeisde** · 08-13-2009, 12:29 AM

The firm said that several years ago it approached Microsoft with a breakthrough product in data processing, only to be spurned and to see its technology show up later in versions of Microsoft Word.

That sentence makes it seem that the small company might in fact have a case.

However I think that the whole patent system should be either seriously reduced or entirely scrapped.

Software is a brilliant example... does anyone really think that software companies would not innovate if they didn't have the patent system to protect them? 'breakthrough' is a ridiculous way to put this. MS has been talking about migrating Office formats to XML formats since 1998 (when MS' much more specific patent for this was granted). This company approached MS "several years ago" (ie, after it's already been developed) with a "breakthrough" and no doubt a demand for hundreds of millions of dollars, which was...of course...spurned.

It's the patent troll MO.

08-13-2009, 12:29 AM	#3
Zfdeisde Join Date Nov 2005 Posts 420 Senior Member	The firm said that several years ago it approached Microsoft with a breakthrough product in data processing, only to be spurned and to see its technology show up later in versions of Microsoft Word. That sentence makes it seem that the small company might in fact have a case. However I think that the whole patent system should be either seriously reduced or entirely scrapped. Software is a brilliant example... does anyone really think that software companies would not innovate if they didn't have the patent system to protect them? 'breakthrough' is a ridiculous way to put this. MS has been talking about migrating Office formats to XML formats since 1998 (when MS' much more specific patent for this was granted). This company approached MS "several years ago" (ie, after it's already been developed) with a "breakthrough" and no doubt a demand for hundreds of millions of dollars, which was...of course...spurned. It's the patent troll MO.
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