David Colvin is
founder of z4 Technologies Inc., a digital rights management
company based in “Automation Alley”, the high-tech centre of
Michigan. The company exists to prevent infringement – and on a
page of its website includes quotes from both Microsoft and
Autodesk about the pest of piracy.
Colvin obtained patents for methods of assigning passwords and
codes to individual copies of software to prevent unauthorised use.
This week, Microsoft was ordered to pay him $115 million and
Autodesk $18 million. The impact on their respective products is
unknown.
Microsoft spokesperson Rachel Wayne told OUT-LAW.COM:
"While we are disappointed with this
verdict, we continue to contend that there was no infringement of
any kind and that the facts in this case show that Microsoft
developed its own product activation technologies well before z4
Technologies filed for its patent.
"We will await resolution of all issues by
the trial court before we make any decisions."
According to Reuters, Microsoft awaits the court's decision
on whether z4 Technologies knowingly withheld information from
the US Patent and Trademark Office about other companies' product
activation technologies when submitting its patent
applications.
In a separate decision earlier this week, a federal appeals
court ruled that customers who bought computers with Microsoft's
software preinstalled or who bought its programs through a reseller
can't sue the Redmond company for antitrust violations. Twenty-six
plaintiffs were seeking up to $10 billion in damages but lost
because they were indirect purchasers.
