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July 14, 2005
Microsoft Grovels For Longhorn
The way to get Microsoft to bend over and pay out in a patent case is to flash some strong cards on a technology that Microsoft really cares about. The two gazillion-dollar money-spinners that Microsoft really cares about: its OS, and Office. Alacritech had a decent patent poker hand to play against Microsoft, holding patents for faster networking that were being sewn into Longhorn, Microsoft's upcoming OS.
In April, Alacritech succeeded in getting a preliminary injunction against Microsoft for the patented feature, TCP offloading, which Microsoft called "Chimney". Nice move if you can get it, and it can only be gotten by showing some strong cards.
Longhorn was code-named as such for its promise to gouge the green out of the wallets of its customers worldwide. Considering the stability and security problems with Windows XP, Longhorn has a receptive audience.
Microsoft has agreed to "pay an undisclosed settlement fee" to Alacritech for patent licenses, as well as giving licenses to Microsoft networking patents.
Posted by Patent Hawk at July 14, 2005 12:21 AM | Litigation