One educational institution is going after Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in a lawsuit over intellectual property. Technion-Israel Institute of Technology is taking the tech company to court for NIS 25 million(about $6.45 million) while making accusations that the company used intellectual property that belonged to one of the college’s professors Rann Smorodinsky.
The property was purchased from Microsoft back in 2008. They purchased it when they acquired YaData for about $150 million. According to the school, some of the important details(namely the innovative methods, commercial secrets, research results, aligorithms, and more).
Technion supplied a backup to their claim: written requests from Microsoft and YaData which were in turn denied. Microsoft decided to utilize the technology software anyway.
Before the software company purchased YaData, it was reported that the company’s founders clearly understood the restrictions Technion placed on the intellectual property. Furthermore, when Microsoft acquired YD, they were warned not to use their intellectual property prior. Essentially, the software company knew they couldn’t use certain programs but went ahead anyway knowing that it was infringing on their rights. Microsoft Israel received Technion’s statement claim early on Friday morning and they’re currently in the process of reviewing it.
I am positive that there is much more to the story than we know. We don’t know the whole story and what was all involved. This could also be something that’s part of a bigger picture. That said, if it’s true that Microsoft willingly infringed on the Technion’s intellectual property, they were in the wrong and they’ll probably owe a lot of money in the long run. No matter what happens next, this litigation is probably going to be a lengthy process as both companies will probably stand their grounds and fight their cases even further. Let’s just hope for the sake of both Microsoft and Technion, the litigation process will be short and simple.
