Microsoft patent claim a 'spoiling tactic'

Microsoft's claim that Linux infringes its patents was dismissed today as a tactic to spoil a European conference on rationalising the law on the subject.

The company claims the open-source kernel violates 42 patents and Linux graphical user interfaces such as Gnome and KDE fall foul of another 65. It also claimed that Openoffice infringes 45, and other open-source projects violate another 83.

Linux guru Linus Torvalds has already challenged Microsoft to "put up or shut up" on the issue.

And today Graham Taylor, chief executive of OpenForum Europe, said Microsoft's comments seemed designed to cause FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) and derail the European Patent Conference in its attempts to find a " patent system fit for the 21st century".

He said in a statement: "The claims made by Microsoft do not refer to the way patents are infringed, which patents are infringed or who is committing the infringement."

Microsoft should give "specific and detailed instances" or be prepared for people to ignore them, as they ignored similar claims by Unix house SCO.

But people would not ignore the fact that Microsoft made its claims as representatives of industry, academia, and European policy-making bodies were seeking to formulate a patent policy that benefited both innovators and society.

The statement continued: "There was a concerted opinion [at the conference] that patents need to be carefully balanced with societal interests, particularly in the standard setting context where patents may impede interoperability.

"Microsoft's actions are in direct contravention to this need. They seem intended to disrupt such effects, cloud the issues, and keep in place the status quo."

Taylor claimed Microsoft's action posed questions about whether its new OpenXML documents formats, which have been submitted to ISO for approval as an open standard, could qualify as such in the eyes of "those who seek a truly open system, avoiding the cost of lock-in to proprietary systems".