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FSFE Says Microsoft Patent Claims Don't Add Up

Posted on: Monday, 21 May 2007, 06:00 CDT

The Free Software Foundation Europe responded to Microsoft's patent claims against Linux and open source late last week by stating that the company's actions don't suggest patent claims in Microsoft's favor.

The FSFE was responding to Microsoft's claim that Linux and other free and open source projects infringe 235 of its patents and that vendors need to repeat its patent covenant deal with Novell to ensure that they are providing unencumbered software.

According to FSFE lawyer, Carlo Piana, the deal with Novell suggests otherwise. "I understand why Microsoft insists on the Novell deal, but it is not a reliable example. If one examines the recent history of the agreements between the two companies, Microsoft does not seem to be the one selling something," he said.

The recent patent deal saw Novell agree to pay Microsoft at least $40m over five years, an undisclosed percentage of its revenue from its "open platform products" and "open enterprise servers" business lines, in return for Microsoft's agreement not to sue Novell customers. At the same time Microsoft agreed to an upfront payment of $108m, reflecting Microsoft's larger customer base, for the reciprocal promise from Novell, and also agreed to buy $240m worth of SUSE Linux Enterprise support coupons.

As well as the balance of that deal, the FSFE also pointed out that Microsoft paid Novell $536m in late 2004 to settle outstanding antitrust claims relating to NetWare. "Paying your infringer nearly one billion dollars in two years is quite an odd way to show reliance on your patents portfolio," said Piana.

FSFE president Georg Greve said Microsoft's patent claims were evidence of the success that open source software was having in impacting the company's market dominance. "This is a good proof of the business success of free software, which is extremely stable not only technologically, but also legally. So if you are a smart financial analyst, this is the time to invest in free software," he said.

Source: Datamonitor

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