EXPENDITURE STRATEGY - MICROSOFT

Microsoft could save billions of dollars in settlement expenditures by winning a suit filed by AT&T:

1. AT&T had sued Microsoft, alleging computers using Microsoft's Windows operating system had breached its patent in voice compression software. AT&T had said it should be entitled to damages for all Windows-based computers manufactured outside of the US.
2. Microsoft accepted patent violations in the US, but argued the infringement should not be extended internationally. The presumption that United States law governs domestically but does not rule the world applies with particular force in patent law
3. The decision could affect other lawsuits against Microsoft and potentially save the company billions of dollars because of the size of its global operations.

Don’t take the law in your hands – but keep it in your meditation room. It is handy.
But getting away with patent violation does not seem fair anywhere in the world.
Aren’t there US-like laws outside the US that would support AT&T?
If not, is that fair? A systemic boon or bane?
It all depends on our position on the half-full / half-empty glass.

[Click here for full story at: BBCNEWS.COM]