Microsoft Office: Banned and Illegal

OK, so not really. But listen to this:

Yesterday, a ruling compelling Microsoft to STOP SELLING MICROSFT OFFICE was passed down by a US District Court in Texas. Reason? Microsoft’s implementation of XML in their file format infringes on a patent held by Canadian company i41 Ltd.

I’ve spoken out for years about patents on software, and I believe now as always that while there may be some truly unique bits of code out there the very idea of patents on software is ludicrous. Why? Because you can’t patent an idea, and that’s what most software patents amount to.

Not surprisingly, Microsoft is appealing the decision. Also not surprisingly, they’re appealing it on the grounds that the patent is overly broad and therefore should not have been issued (see my comments above).

How ironic that just a week ago, I wrote about Microsoft starting to look like they were going to begin enforcing one of their own many software patents. No doubt, that one all of theirs are deserving of being upheld.

Food for thought. Tell me how you feel . . .