Microsoft puts patent screws on Taiwanese mouse maker Primax

Stephen Withers
Friday, 01 August 2008 05:30

Your IT - Home IT

"To date, more than 20 companies have licensed the U2, Tilt Wheel and Magnifier technologies from Microsoft as part of our successful hardware licensing program," said Gutierrez.

"Primax's practice of using our innovations without taking a patent license is unfair to the many companies that have already licensed our technology, so we are taking action to protect both our partners and our innovations."

And - more importantly, we suspect - it has deprived Microsoft of licensing revenue.

In 1998, Goldtouch Technologies (a company based in California but owned by Australians) sued Microsoft for $US1 billion, claiming theft of trade secrets, patent infringement and fraud.

The matter arose after Goldtouch met with Microsoft with a view to licensing the smaller company's design for an ergonomic mouse. Microsoft later released the IntelliMouse Pro, which Goldtouch claimed was a partial copy of its mouse.

Microsoft won a summary judgement that it had not infringed Goldtouch's patent, and the Federal Circuit Court upheld that decision. Microsoft then won a patent infringement suit against Goldtouch.