Beijing courts rules for Zhongyi in suit against Microsoft
Shanghai. November 17. INTERFAX-CHINA - A Chinese court has ruled in favor of Zhongyi Electronic Ltd. in a lawsuit it brought against Microsoft for infringing on its patented intellectual property, domestic media reported on Nov. 17.
Beijing's 1st Intermediate People's Court ordered Microsoft to cease production and sales of Windows systems with Zhongyi's Zheng input method and Chinese character fonts on Nov. 16. The court determined that Microsoft overstepped the scope of a previous agreement with Zhongyi under which the software giant was permitted to use and sell the Zhongyi fonts.
The Windows products affected by this ruling include Windows 98, Windows 2000 Professional and Windows XP.
When Interfax contacted Microsoft on Nov. 17, a Microsoft representative denied that it had exceeded the agreed upon parameters with Zhongyi and that they are preparing to appeal the court's decision.
"The lawsuit should not affect Microsoft Windows sales in China, as the Windows products in question are all older versions," Jiang Bojing, an independent industry observer, said in a Nov. 17 blog post.
Zhongyi filed the case against Microsoft in April 2007, accusing Microsoft of using its program and fonts without permission. Zhongyi stated that under a previous agreement between the two parties, Microsoft was only permitted to use Zhongyi's intellectual property in Windows 95. Microsoft filed an appeal in response to Zhongyi's allegations, which was rejected by the court at that time.
-HJL