Several allies of Microsoft have lost a bid to intervene in the software giant"s antitrust case before a European Union court, which dismissed them as "mere think tanks", court documents showed on Friday. The Court of First Instance in Luxembourg rejected applications by four different groups to intervene, which would have given Microsoft additional time at a court hearing, expected to last upwards of a week some time in the spring.
The 25-state European Union"s second highest court said three of the Microsoft allies "are in reality mere "think tanks"" trying to promote "strong intellectual property rights in the information technology field." The International Intellectual Property Institute, the Institute for Policy Innovation and the Progress & Freedom Foundation "are not active in any of the markets concerned ... nor do they carry out commercial activities," the court said.