(23-Dec-09) Microsoft Corp. has lost an appeal against a small Toronto company in a patent fight that cost the world's biggest software maker $290 million (U.S.) and forced it to alter its ubiquitous MS Word program.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit of Washington on Tuesday upheld an August ruling by a Texas court that found Microsoft had "wilfully" infringed a patent held by i4i LP, a small Toronto-based technology firm.
"It's not the end, it's the beginning," said Loudon Owen, i4i's chairman and a managing director at McLean Watson Capital, the principal shareholder. "It's a platform for us to build our company at a very rapid pace."