A federal judge has dismissed a patent infringement case against Microsoft

http://news.com.com/2100-1014_3-5082242.html

A federal judge has dismissed a patent infringement case against
Microsoft. 


Judge Barbara Crabb of the U.S. District Court for the Western District
of Wisconsin issued the ruling Wednesday in response to Microsoft's
request for summary judgment in a case bought by Hyperphrase
Technologies, a small Madison, Wis.-based software maker. Hyperphrase
claimed that Smart Tags
<http://news.com.com/2100-1001-813213.html?tag=nl> technology included
in recent versions of Microsoft's Office productivity software infringed
on patents HyperPhrase was granted relating to data storage and
retrieval methods. 

Smart Tags allow document creators to include links to information in
other documents or Web pages. The technology proved controversial in
broader use, with Microsoft dropping plans
<http://news.com.com/2100-1001-269167.html?tag=nl>  to include it in the
Windows XP operating system. 

Crabb agreed with Microsoft's argument that XML-based Smart Tags operate
differently from Hyperphrase's methods and therefore aren't covered by
the patents. She dismissed the case, which had been scheduled to go to
trial Oct. 6. 

Microsoft spokeswoman Stacy Drake hailed the ruling. "As an intellectual
property company, we are committed to respecting the intellectual
property of others, but we also invest heavily in R&D and we will defend
our intellectual property when necessary," she said in a statement. 

....