WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court has upheld a $290 million judgement against Microsoft and issued an injunction that will prevent the sale of its popular Word software.
But people looking to buy Word or Microsoft's Office package in the U.S. won't have to go without the software. Microsoft said Tuesday it expects that new versions of the product, with the computer code in question removed, will be ready for sale when the injunction begins on Jan. 11.
Microsoft had appealed a Texas jury verdict in favor of i4i Inc., a Toronto company. The jury found recent versions of Microsoft Word infringed on a software patent.
Microsoft said it has been preparing for such a judgment since August. Copies of Word and Office sold before Jan. 11 aren't affected by the court's decision, and Microsoft said it's removing "this little-used feature" from versions of Word 2007 and Office 2007 that would be sold after that date.
