Microsoft's recent trials and tribulations with its Word software patent illustrates the difficulty in granting -- and defending -- software patents. This fall, Microsoft was briefly barred from selling Word because of a dispute over XML code that i4i claimed infringed on one of the Toronto, Ontario-based company's patents. That trial is ongoing. While some observers questioned why Microsoft didn't resolve the dispute early on, others are interested to see how the dispute will play out and how patent rights will be determined.
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