#12001/6/28 8:21:32
h*tp://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/27/technology/27PATE.html
The New York Times
Technology
June 27, 2001
Patent Poses Challenge to Microsoft's New Operating Systems Plan
By JOHN MARKOFF
A small developer of software for protecting digital information received a patent yesterday that it said would challenge Microsoft's strategy for linking its next-generation operating system to Internet services and content like digital music.
Microsoft accused the small company of "patent terrorism."
The software developer, the Intertrust Technologies Corporation, had filed suit against Microsoft in April, saying Microsoft's Windows Media Player program infringed on Intertrust patents in the area of digital rights management, technology that is used to protect digital content as it is sent over the Internet.
Intertrust, based in Santa Clara, Calif., said yesterday that the Patent and Trademark Office had awarded it a patent over technologies for controlling the way digital information was authorized for use when it was shared by different electronic devices like cell phones, MP3 players and portable computers.
That type of sharing among devices is at the heart of Microsoft's .NET and Hailstorm software strategies, which are intended to integrate various Microsoft services more deeply into the Internet through its Windows XP operating system.
Microsoft has said that it also plans to integrate its Windows Media Player with Windows XP, which is scheduled to be introduced on Oct. 25.
Media Player, which permits computer users to view video and listen to audio, was at the center of recently failed negotiations between Microsoft and America Online.
The Intertrust lawsuit may be the first of a number of legal battles that Microsoft could **** as it tries to build its Internet strategy.
Intertrust is a business partner of AOL Time Warner and is an ally of RealNetworks, whose RealPlayer competes with Microsoft's Media Player.
Chris LeTocq, an industry analyst at Guernsey Research in Los Altos, Calif., said, "From Microsoft's standpoint, they have been attempting to extend their influence into music business, and they want to do it with their formats to get better leverage."
Microsoft executives said that they had not seen a copy of the amended Intertrust lawsuit and that it would be premature for them to comment on the challenge raised by the new patent.
But the Microsoft spokesman, Jim Cullinan, said the suit "appears to be an act of desperation from a company that's in serious trouble."
An Intertrust executive said the company had taken a conservative approach to protecting its patents. But he noted that Microsoft had placed a significant amount of detail about its plans regarding digital rights management on its Web site and that the descriptions indicated that Microsoft had violated the Intertrust patent.
"We're seeking an injunction and damages for any infringing rights-management components, whether they're separate in Windows Media Player or integrated into Windows XP," said the executive, Ed Fish, president of MetaTrust Utility, an Intertrust subsidiary.
Last year Intertrust had revenue of $7.9 million and a loss of $55.6 million.
The company's stock, which neared $100 before the dot-com collapse, has traded near $1 in recent months. Intertrust closed yesterday at $1.22, up 16 cents.
------------------------------------------------------------
Comment:
Oh I see. When it's someone else's intellectual property, it's "patent terrorism", but when it's your's, it's "good business."
Poor Microsoft. It's being subjected to "cancer", "un-American" activities, "viral code", and now "patent terrorism."
