Microsoft is facing a new lawsuit today from
telecommunications provider Visto claiming that the software giant
"...infringed upon multiple patents Visto holds regarding proprietary
technology that provides enterprises and consumers with mobile access to their
e-mail and other data."
Citing functionality found in the Windows Mobile platform, Visto states that
Microsoft "...has a long and well-documented history of acquiring the
technology of others, branding it as their own, and entering new markets."
"In some cases, they buy that technology from its creator. In other cases,
they wrongfully misappropriate the intellectual property that belongs to
others, which has forced them to acknowledge and settle large (intellectual
property) cases with companies like Sun, AT&T and Burst.com. For their
foray into mobile email and data access, Microsoft simply decided to
misappropriate Visto"s well known and documented patented technology."
This lawsuit comes immediately after Visto"s main competitor Research In Motion
(RIM) lost a similar intellectual rights case, causing consumers to worry about
the future of their popular Blackberry handheld devices.