I handle business litigation and disputes in and around Louisville, Kentucky for small businesses--I represent the little guy and I always root for the little guy taking on the big guy. And here is a case where you can really root for the little guy.
In a David v Goliath showdown, it appears round one goes to David. In what has become a very interesting intellectual property dispute, tiny software manufacturer Toronto-based
i4i, which has 30 employees, claims that Microsoft violated an obscure patent related to Extensible Markup Language or XML. It's a key software component of many websites and
compute

r programs, including Word.
Tuesday, Texas Federal District Court
Judge Leonard Davis agreed with i4i and
entered an order fining the software giant Microsoft $290 million and ordering them to stop selling Word in the United States.
Judge Davis' ruling came following a jury verdict that found that Microsoft had infringed on i4i's 1998 patent. The jury awarded $200 million and Judge Leonard
Judge Davis ruled that Microsoft should pay i4i an additional $40 million for its willful infringement of the i4i patent. Microsoft also was ordered to pay slightly more than $37 million in prejudgment interest, including an additional $21,102 per day until a final judgment is reached in the case. The court also ordered Microsoft to pay $144,060 per day until the date of final judgment for post-verdict damages.
i4i was represented by the national business litigation firm McKool Smith.
hans
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