File under irony. Via Lehman Law:
The Beijing People’s No. 1 Intermediate Court has ruled against Microsoft Corp. in a copyright infringement suit, and ordered the software company to stop selling eight versions of its Windows operating system in China. The suit was brought by Zhongyi Electronic Ltd., a Beijing company that previously licensed two proprietary Chinese character fonts to Microsoft for use in the Windows 95 operating system.
Zhongyi claims that its license agreements with Microsoft were limited to the Windows 95 operating system, and that the fonts’ use in subsequent versions of Windows without Zhongyi’s permission constitutes copyright infringement. Although Microsoft insists that the license agreements cover use of the fonts in other Windows operating systems as well, the court agreed with Zhongyi’s interpretation. Microsoft stated that it will appeal the decision.
Microsoft has historically fought in China to protect its own intellectual property rights, but has rarely found itself on the defensive as in the present case.
