Microsoft may not be able to sell two versions of the very popular word processing software after a federal jury ruled on Tuesday that the software violates a patent held by i4i Inc., a Toronto-based tech firm.
The Redmond, Washington-based tech giant has already filed an appeal for the court after a federal judge decided that the company could not sell its 2003 and 2007 versions of Microsoft word anymore.
Microsoft requested the court stay the injunction issued until an appeal can be heared.
According to a report in the The Wall Street Journal, the ruling does not require the company to retract the software already sold to customers, however the ruling calls for Microsoft to pay i4i Inc. $290 million worth of damages.
Hewlett-Packard and Dell, both fellow companies, have filed briefs in support of Microsoft. They are both in favor of a stay and both argued that their business would be affected.
Dell urges the Court to consider the serious adverse impact of an injunction of Word on Dell, other PC sellers, and the PC-using public in evaluating whether the injunction should stand,” Dell said in its brief.
HP’s brief also took the same note citing that the injunction would have an adverse impact on its business as well as on the customer.
