Lindows.com ordered to drop Lindows name Dump Lindows name or we’ll take all your money, says MS Continue Reading
Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002
Category Archives: Microsoft
A Commentary on Whether the Patent Process is Broken
From the Washington Post’s Jonathan Krim, this article Patenting Air or Protecting Property? reviews the growing criticism of the USPTO’s patent process, and details the marked increase in lawsuits involving Internet-related technologies from companies that include high-profile Amazon, Microsoft, Blackberry, and eBay. Continue Reading
New Microsoft Patent for Writing Windows Apps Using HTML
TechDirt posted on a patent awarded by the USPTO to Microsoft yesterday for a “Method and apparatus for writing a windows application in HTML.” See also Microsoft wins HTML application patent Continue Reading
MSN Newsbot Tested Around Europe
“Software giant Microsoft is testing its answer to Google’s popular news aggregator and search site. “MSN Newsbot”, on MSN UK, France, Spain and Italy, signals at least one of Microsoft’s intentions as it seeks to build out its own search technology.” [Link] Continue Reading
FTC Obtains TRO Against Company Using Pop-Up Ad Scam Scheme
The Federal Trade Commission issued a news release today on a temporary restraining order obtained from District Court, Northern District of Maryland against D Squared Solutions, a company that bombarded Windows Messenger service users with pop-up ads, whether or not consumers were on the web. Complaint for Injunctive and Other Equitable Relief Temporary Restraining Order… Continue Reading
Microsoft Posts Bounty for Hackers
“Microsoft Corp. today announced the creation of the Anti-Virus Reward Program, initially funded with $5 million (U.S.), to help law enforcement agencies identify and bring to justice those who illegally release damaging worms, viruses and other types of malicious code on the Internet. Microsoft will provide the monetary rewards for information resulting in the arrest… Continue Reading
Microsoft’s New Digital Rights Management System
Microsoft’s new Windows Server 2003 allows users to implement digital rights management applications for Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents as well as Outlook emails. [Link] See my previous posting on this new version here. Microsoft’s press releases is here. See also Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing White Paper, September 12, 2003. Continue Reading
Challenge to Browser Patent by Web Consortium
From the World Wide Web Consortium: “Acting on the advice of the W3C HTML Patent Advisory Group, W3C has presented the United States Patent and Trademark Office with prior art establishing that US Patent No. 5,838,906 (the ‘906 patent) is invalid. W3C Director Tim Berners-Lee has written an unprecedented request to US Under Secretary of… Continue Reading
Google’s IPO and Talks With Microsoft
Today’s New York Times reported that Google seems intent on pursuing an IPO in early 2004 (with an offering of 10-15% of the company’s stock), and that talks with Microsoft have not resulted in any form of agreement. Continue Reading
New MS Office Includes Self Destructing E-Mail Feature
The BBC reports that Microsoft Office 2003, available tomorrow, will include new e-mail privacy and security features, including the ability to designate specific readers, prevent message forwarding and printing, and a “time-stamp” which results in email deletion on a specified date. For more product details, see also Inside Office 2003, from PCWorld.com Continue Reading
Microsoft and USPS Partner on Postmark App
From the USPS: “Just click the USPS EPM icon in the Microsoft Word toolbar, apply a USPS EPM to your document (contract, letter, agreement), and sign. This gives your document tamper protection against fraud and the ability to verify document authenticity with a click of the USPS EPM signature block.” Free for individual users who… Continue Reading
Microsoft Obtains Patent on Unique User IDs
United States Patent 6,632,248, Customization of network documents by accessing customization information on a server computer using uniquie (note: the word unique is misspelled in the patent document itself) user identifiers. “The customization options may include a wide variety of information such as, for example, network addresses (e.g., URLs) of a user’s favorite sites, types… Continue Reading
