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.
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