I woke up, and they were gone.

[Reality]

Last month, when Microsoft announced its bellwether decision to award employees restricted stock instead of options, it also made news in a federal courtroom—the kind of news you keep quiet about.

Microsoft suffered utter defeat at a crucial pretrial hearing in what appears to be the highest-stakes patent litigation ever—one in which a tiny company called InterTrust Technologies claims that 85% of Microsoft's entire product line infringes its digital security patents. (See Can This Man Bring Down Microsoft?)

InterTrust's engineers developed and patented what they say are key inventions in two areas: so-called digital-rights management and trusted systems. The technologies are essential to the digital distribution of copyrighted music and movies, and to maintaining the security of e-commerce in general. At its prebubble height, InterTrust (founded in 1990) employed 376 people and marketed its own software and hardware products; today it consists mainly of a patent portfolio, 30 employees, and this lawsuit. An investor group led by Sony Corp. of America and Royal Philips Electronics bought the company in January for $453 million, hoping to convince consumer electronics and tech companies—beginning with Microsoft—of the need to license its patents.

Microsoft argued in court that crucial phrases in InterTrust's patents were too vague to be enforceable, and that others required such narrow interpretation that they would have been hard for Microsoft to infringe. But in her July 3 ruling, an Oakland judge resolved 33 of 33 disputed issues against Microsoft and rebuked the company's lawyers for wasting her time by promising proof that never materialized—legal vaporware, in essence.

"This is simply another step in a long legal process," says a Microsoft spokesman, putting the best face on it. "Microsoft will continue to defend itself against what we believe are groundless and overbroad claims."

As agreed before the hearing, the parties now enter a round of settlement talks. Though InterTrust declines to place a pricetag on the suit, it's hard to imagine the company settling now for any sum that does not have a "B" in it. InterTrust claims that its inventions cover technologies that Microsoft has been weaving into its Windows XP operating system, Office XP Suite, Windows Media Player, Xbox videogame console, and .NET networked computing platform, to name just a few. If settlement talks fail and InterTrust prevails in court, it would be entitled to a court order halting sales of all those products. InterTrust CEO Talal Shamoon asks rhetorically, "How much would that be worth to Microsoft?

http://theinquirer.net/?article=10648
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Well well well, where is my LOL smile? Ah here it is,

[Satcomer]

i have mixed feelings about this one. I just feel microsoft will wiggle out of this one just like the DOJ case.

[Reality]

Hard to say really, depends on InterTrust's terms of satisfaction. It could be billions of billions on dollars or a the nice fact they got a stab at Bill Gates and while taking his products out, moving theirs in.

[Arden]

I can see Steve Balmer sweating and running around the courtroom like a deranged monkey defending Microsoft in this lawsuit.

[Darkshadow]

Naw, they wouldn't let him in there. What if he started shouting "Developers?"

[Reality]

Layer: Steve Balmer, is it true that microsfot made iligal moves in developing the listed products.

Steve Balmer: I....LOVE...THIS.. COMPANY! YAAaaaaaAAAA!!!!!!

[Arden]

Then a techno drum beat started playing...

I really hope something positive comes out of this case for us Mac users, at the expense of Microsoft. It would be really funny if suddenly they couldn't sell Windows anymore because it contained copywrighted code.

[Reality]

Layer: Mr. Balmer, if it's true, who has Microsoft toke illegal action to?

Steve Balmer: "Developers Developers Developers Developers" YaaaaAAAA!! *starts a sweaty dance*