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EC Agrees to Close DRAM Antitrust Case Against Rambus
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| And it could have a bearing on how the
| European Commission deals with the
| controversial decision by the international
| standards body ISO to recognize Microsoft's
| OOXML document format, according to some
| observers.
|
| [...]
|
| The Commission is in the process of
| settling a much bigger antitrust case
| against Microsoft. A final decision to
| accept the software giant's settlement
| offer is expected next Tuesday.
|
| In addition to creating a level playing
| field for competition among Internet
| browsers, Microsoft is understood to have
| also made promises not to unfairly withhold
| information from companies that want to
| make products compatible with the word
| processing, spreadsheet and office
| management tools contained in Microsoft's
| Office suite of software applications.
|
| As part of this probe the Commission was
| examining whether OOXML is sufficiently
| interoperable with competitors' products,
| and in April last year, when OOXML won ISO
| status, the regulator suspected foul play.
|
| Microsoft was suspected of having unfairly
| influenced the vote by national ISO
| affiliates in order to secure the ISO label
| on OOXML.
|
| It is unclear how the anticipated
| settlement announcement of the Microsoft
| case next week will deal with the questions
| surrounding OOXML. "Microsoft's settlement
| offer in the interoperability case has
| addressed the main concerns other companies
| had, but I don't know how this specific
| issue has been settled," said one person
| familiar with the Commission's thinking who
| asked not to be named.
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http://www.pcworld.com/article/184134/ec_agrees_to_close_dram_antitrust_case_against_rambus.html
Microsoft Licensing Secrets
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| Success in Microsoft licensing demands
| extraordinary attention to detail and the
| fine print.
`----
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/microsoft-licensing-secrets-78694577.html
The "Matrix" for First-Inventor-To-File: An Experimental Investigation into Proposed Changes in US Patent Law
,----[ Quote ]
| The Patent Reform Act of 2009 would replace
| the current âfirst-to-inventâ (FTI) system
| with a new âfirst-inventor-to-fileâ (FITF)
| system. While touted as a way to harmonize
| the US system with âfirst-to-fileâ (FTF)
| systems used in other countries, an
| experimental investigation of a matrix of
| two hundred typical fact patterns for two
| competing inventors was analyzed under all
| three systems (FTI, FITF and FTF) to test
| this assumption. Based on the matrix
| analysis, it appears that if FITF is
| adopted there likely will be changes in
| applicant behavior and significant extra
| costs for at least several years as a
| result of the transition to a new system;
| and, it is unclear whether FITF really gets
| the US any closer to patent harmonization.
`----
http://www.patentlyo.com/patent/2009/12/the-matrix-for-first-inventor-to-file-an-experimental-investigation-into-proposed-changes-in-us-patent-law.html
Recent:
Microsoft Word Ban: Maybe it Wouldn't be so Bad
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| First, there are plenty of alternative word processors out there, most of
| which read Word files perfectly well. Sure, there might be a few formatting
| glitches, but thatâs to be expected during any file conversion. Microsoft
| Office users, particularly those who rely heavily on the well-honed
| integration between Excel, Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint, would experience
| the most problems. But, again, the ban would affect new sales of Word, not
| existing copies. So users would have time to develop workarounds.
|
| Plus, thereâd be one big silver lining to a Microsoft Word ban: A true
| universal document format could take hold, one that replaces todayâs defacto
| standard -- Microsoftâs doc/docx -- thatâs tied too closely to the whims of
| one software vendor.
|
| Word ban? Sure, why not?
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http://www.pcworld.com/article/171498/microsoft_word_ban_maybe_it_wouldnt_be_so_bad.html
A few creative options for working without Word
http://gcn.com/articles/2009/08/31/technicalities-word-alternatives.aspx
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