WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to consider Microsoft’s challenge to a $290 million patent-infringement judgment that barred the company from selling certain versions of its flagship Word software.
The case, which will examine the proper legal standard for determining the validity of a patent, could have significant implications for all companies involved in patent litigation.
Microsoft is urging the high court to make it easier for companies facing infringement lawsuits to prove that a plaintiff’s patent is invalid.
Leading high-tech companies, automakers, generic-drug companies and the financial-services industry are all supporting Microsoft’s appeal.
The software giant and its backers say the current legal standard for proving invalidity is too demanding, causing courts to uphold dubious patents and making it costly to defend against patent-infringement lawsuits.
The court’s decision to hear the appeal is “a clear affirmation that the issues raised in this case are critical to the integrity of our patent system,” David Howard, Microsoft’s corporate vice president and deputy general counsel for litigation, said in a statement.
The company’s opponent, Toronto-based technology company i4i, says Microsoft wants to radically rewrite patent law.
