A federal judge on Wednesday rejected Microsoft Corp.'s MSFT.O request that she throw out claims against it by nine states seeking stiff sanctions against the software giant. Microsoft had tried to argue that the nine states lacked standing to continue the four-year-old case brought under federal antitrust law because the U.S. Justice Department had reached a proposed settlement with the company in November. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly gave Microsoft some credit for raising the argument but said the case had been "unique from its inception" and cited a U.S. Court of Appeals' instruction to allow the parties in the case to be heard.