Microsoft Settlement
On April 3, 2004 , Intertrust and Microsoft settled their
patent litigation with Microsoft taking a comprehensive
license to Intertrust's patent portfolio for a one-time
payment of
$440 million.
Under the terms of the agreement, developers, including system integrators, may
need a license from Intertrust for other uses of Microsoft technology. This includes
cases in which Microsoft technology is combined with third-party technology.
History of the Microsoft Litigation
In April 2001, Intertrust initiated a lawsuit against
Microsoft. The lawsuit ultimately accused Microsoft of
infringing 11 of Intertrust's patents and almost 130 of
the company's patent claims.
The lawsuit centered on accused
products based on the following technologies:
- DRM and product activation technologies
- .NET and related security technologies
- Trusted and reliable operating system technologies
In bringing the patent infringement lawsuit, Intertrust
believed that Microsoft's forward-going technology infrastructure
significantly relied on Intertrust's inventions for DRM
and trusted computing.
In July 2003, the U.S. District Court for the Northern
District of California issued a ruling in
Intertrust's favor, accepting Intertrust's claim constructions
and denying a motion Microsoft had filed for summary judgment.
This ruling paved the way for the eventual settlement of
the lawsuit, with Microsoft taking a comprehensive license
to Intertrust's patent portfolio for a one-time payment
of $440 million on April 3, 2004.
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