The $290 Million Lesson: Sometimes the Little Guy Wins Against Microsoft

The Supreme Court unanimously upheld a trial verdict against Microsoft MSFT Thursday, dealing a $290 million blow to the software maker and a huge victory for software company i4i. Canadian software company i4i Limited Partnership had argued in a previous lawsuit that Microsoft had infringed upon its patent rights related to word processing software. i4i claimed that Microsoft's Word program used text manipulation patents that were solely i4i's property. i4i won the case, and was awarded $290 million. Microsoft appealed, and the issued before the Supreme Court was what legislation means when it says “the burden of establishing invalidity” rests “on the party asserting such invalidity.” According to the New York Times, "Though the law did not expressly specify a standard of proof, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, writing for the court, said Congress must have codified the general understanding about the appropriate standard, one reflected in a 1934 Supreme Court decision." Patents must be assumed to be valid, “not to be overthrown except by clear and cogent evidence,” Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo wrote. As of March 31, 2011, Microsoft had $50.1 billion in cash and short-term securities. According to its website, "i4i is a world leader in the design and development of collaborative content solutions and technologies. Founded in 1993 by Michel Vulpe, the Company has a proven record of accomplishment and innovation. With its partners, i4i has successfully developed and deployed collaborative content solutions to customers in industry and government around the world."