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Windows Vista breaks atleast 50 IBM patents

Posted by maggrand on · 5 comments
patft.uspto.gov; By Magnus Grander 		Mail this story
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I did go through the public database that exist over patents. Did a search for all IBM patents. I did find a wopping 98000 patents. Did slowly read a page and think if i could connect Microsoft windows vista and XP to any of them. About two hours later 50 is connected and thats just the start.

In the rescent days Microsoft have told us that Linux and opensource software breaks atleast 200 patents. That made me wonder if Microsoft Windows Vista and XP did the same. But in that case IBM's, SUN's and other companys. So i started to go throught a list of IBM patents and did get a 'scary' result.

So how many thousands of patents will Microsoft break when i am finished. I can't go throught all of them myself. I would really like some help on this.

One thing is for certain IBM can sue Microsoft today for breaking loads of patents and i suggest that any other company that earns a patent portfolio should do a list to. Then they could list there them either in public or in private. A such action would disarm Microsofts completly or might even hurt them.

This action will also put Microsoft stock under fire because that leaves the door open for Microsoft to getting sued from very big companys and that may drain invested capital.

Here is the link for the list of IBM's patents... [HYPERLINK@patft.uspto.gov]

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Comments (5)

Sander_Marechal ·
I think the problem is that IBM and MS will have a cross-license deal regarding old Unix and Windows. We don't need patents that MS might infringe, we need patents that MS actually infringes because it does not have a license for the patent. OIN is just that :-)
maggrand Story submitter ·
That don't mater if they might or really do infrige on a patent. It only shows that Windows is a bigger minefield that Linux is. Goal accomplished. Its FUD in the reverse way.
dinotrac ·
>Goal accomplished. Its FUD in the reverse way.

Hmmm. What was that phrase? Oh yeah, it was "Mission accomplished..."

Sorry pal, but it ain't that way. In the case of Linux, users can be quite sure of two things:

1. There are no patent licenses. An infringement is an infringement. 2. There won't be any patent licenses.

Once informed, kernel hackers can work around patents, but there is a gotcha to that. If the patent covers something truly useful and innovative, something that really does make the OS slicker, faster, more stable, more secure, whatever, there is a chance that Linux will be forced into inferiority. Not a very big chance, but not zero.

Microsoft, on the other hand, may already have licenses for the technology that it uses, hence no infringement. Alternatively, it could enter into an agreement to license technology.

Microsoft has been sued for patent infringement in the past. So far, its customers have not suffered as Microsoft has fought patents or paid out millions.

bigg ·
I wonder how the patent misuse doctrine plays into this. As I recall, the patent misuse doctrine says a patent is valid, but cannot be enforced, if the owner of the patent is trying to go beyond what is intended by granting patent protection. I would say that stifling competition in the market for operating systems goes well beyond the intention of any of the individual patents granted to Microsoft.
dinotrac ·
>I wonder how the patent misuse doctrine plays into this.

Not at all would be my guess. The standards are pretty high.

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