Microsoft may have to delay the launch of its new version of the Windows operating system, known as Longhorn, following the award of a preliminary injunction against the software giant, according to reports.
The injunction was awarded at the behest of data solutions provider Alacritech, which sued in August last year, alleging that Microsoft had breached two of the start up's patents relating to scalable networking.Of particular concern, says California-based Alacritech, are Microsoft's existing and future operating systems containing the "Chimney" TCP architecture (Transmission Control Protocol, which deals with the delivery of data within networks).The company complains that it had met confidentially with Microsoft in 1998 to demonstrate its SLIC technology, which tackles bottlenecks in system and network processing, and that Microsoft had asked to see detailed documents relating to the software, with a view to integrating it into Windows.But Alacritech alleges that, in 1999, Microsoft ceased further communications with the company, only to launch its new "Chimney" technology at the 2003 Windows Hardware Engineering Conference. This technology, says Alacritech, "appears to be close to Alacritech intellectual property.""After Alacritech discovered that Microsoft Chimney is based on intellectual property that we developed, patented and own, we offered Microsoft a license," said Larry Boucher, president and CEO of Alacritech. "Microsoft rejected licensing terms that would be acceptable to us. We were forced to sue Microsoft to stop them from continuing to infringe, and inducing others to infringe, on our intellectual property rights. We are very pleased with the Court's decision in this matter."Longhorn had been expected next year.
Businesses should review their cybersecurity programmes after the Security Bureau announced a draft bill aimed at strengthening the computer systems of critical infrastructure in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR).
“Balancing the books”, stimulating growth, and getting value for money will be the key themes in construction procurement in the coming months and throughout 2025.
A recent judgment by the Court of Appeal in London helpfully pulls together existing principles of trade mark law to clarify that market context, including the existence of a crowded market, will be taken into account when assessing infringement.
We use cookies that are essential for our site to work. To improve our site, we would like to use additional cookies to help us understand how visitors use it, measure traffic to our site from social media platforms and to personalise your experience. Some of the cookies that we use are provided by third parties. To accept all cookies click ‘accept all’. To reject all optional cookies click ‘reject all’. To choose which optional cookies to allow click ‘cookie settings’. This tool uses a cookie to remember your choices.
Please visit our cookie policy for more information.
We are processing your request. \n Thank you for your patience.An error occurred. This could be due to inactivity on the page - please try again.
