This Supreme Court decision is interesting in that it pits two of the world's largest corporations against one another in a case over patent law. AT&T Corporation brought this suit against the computer giant Microsoft because they felt that some of Microsoft's practices and products infringed upon their already patented software.
AT&T brought suit against Microsoft alleging that Microsoft be held liable under 35 U.S.C. 271(f) of the Patent Act which states that patented products can not supplied from the United States to other countries for distribution if they are held under patent by another entity. The case came down to the definition of distribution and exportation under the current patent law.
In the end, Microsoft dodged the bullet when they were not held liable for damages under the code. Their computer program Windows, which contained software to enable computers to compress recorded voice speech from people and turn it into words, was not found to be in violation. AT&T's assertion was that they help the patent over such technology. Windows was able to avoid liability because, technically, they do not export this patented technology overseas. Instead, they ship unaltered versions of their Windows system to overseas software developers, who are then responsible for making the changes.
This case was unprecedented in that it pitted two of America's largest economic players against one another in the highest court. In the end, Microsoft came out on top, but not before AT&T managed to exact some serious damage on their ability to conduct business overseas.
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