Microsoft, InterTrust square off in court
Reuters | at | by Mike
A California court has begun hearing a suit against Microsoft Corp. filed by software company InterTrust in a case that could decide who owns key digital rights patents, a report said on Monday. The online edition of IEEE Spectrum, a professional magazine for computer engineers, said InterTrust, a pioneer of software used to control digital distribution rights for media ranging from software to music, is seeking to force Microsoft to license patents that cover a range of Microsoft products.
InterTrust, of Santa Clara, California, was sold earlier this year to a venture owned by electronics giants Philips Electronics of the Netherlands and Sony Corp. of Japan. InterTrust originally filed the suit in April 2001.