Microsoft loses Office patent

SOFTWARE GIANT Microsoft has lost a patent row with a Guatemalan blole who claimed that its method of linking its Access database and Excel spreadsheet infringed on his ideas.

A US Appeals Court has upheld a ruling that Microsoft's Office nicked Carlos Armando Amado's ideas and ordered Vole to pay him $6.1 million.

No spokesvole has yet commented on the ruling. But Amando's brief said that the ruling signals the validity of the patent and confirms Microsoft's liability of infringement on Amado's software program.

It is not over yet. Although the court has ordered Vole to pay $6.1 million to Amando, it has refered the case back to a lower court to work out how much if any, of escrow funds he should get.

Amando's briefs are hoping that the federal court will award him further damages for continuing infringement, out of an escrow account that now has more than $65 million in it.

Microsoft altered Office last year so that it does not use Amando's technology any more. µ

L'Inq
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