InterTrust Technologies develops digital rights management (DRM)
software and on 3rd July won a ruling on the definition of terms
and patents in the case which, for obvious reasons, Microsoft has
chosen to keep quiet.
The dispute centres on a patent granted in February 2001 that
covers systems and important system components for receiving
encrypted content and rules, securely managing content use, and
transmitting rights managed content and related rules to other
users.
Since the initial filing in April 2001, InterTrust has expanded
the lawsuit by adding numerous Microsoft products and services that
it says infringe its patents for "trusted computing" and DRM.
In total the suit now covers 144 claims against the software
giant regarding 11 patents and what InterTrust calls "over 190
separate infringement scenarios."
This month's hearing did not consider the question of
infringement, but set the scene by considering a total of 33
disputed issues over definitions and the scope of the patents – and
all 33 were decided in InterTrust's favour by US District Court
Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong.
InterTrust recently licensed to Sony its entire suite of 24
current patents and 90 pending patent applications for $28.5
million, a deal which, the company argues, supports the validity of
its intellectual property rights.
In fact, InterTrust has little more than a patent portfolio
among its assets. Founded in 1990, the company once employed 376
staff and sold both software and hardware. Today, according to
Fortune magazine, it has just 30 employees, a patent portfolio and
the lawsuit against Microsoft. If it successfully forces Microsoft
to licence its patents, others tech companies will likely be
targeted.
