Microsoft supported in AT&T patent fight
Seattle PI | at | by Mike
For all of Microsoft's legal entanglements over the years, its appearance today before the U.S. Supreme Court will be its first -- and the company will have some unlikely allies, including some of its biggest rivals.
The specific issue is whether Microsoft should be required to pay U.S. patent royalties to AT&T on copies of Windows installed and sold outside the United States. But the decision could also have broader implications for the software industry.
"Fundamentally, the case is about the geographic reach of patent laws, and whether the courts in one country will seek to apply their patent laws to activities that take place beyond their borders," Brad Smith, Microsoft's general counsel, said in an interview.