computer science

Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership

Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership rather than just read about it. In short: Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership, 564 U.S. 91 (2011), was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States.

Key takeaways

Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership, 564 U.S. 91 (2011), was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States. It deals with the presumption of validity and the standard of evidence in patent lawsuits. This case in widely considered as a prime example of a frivolous lawsuit by a patent troll, underscoring the need for a reform of the US patent law. The case was a patent dispute between small Toronto-based company i4i Ltd. Partnership and Microsoft for infringement of a patent regarding custom XML encoding in Microsoft Word, a feature that was “used by only a small fraction of Microsoft’s customers”. The original lawsuit was filed in the Federal Court for the Eastern District of Texas, known for its decisions favoring patent trolls. i4i prevailed both in the district court and on appeal to the CAFC. The latter awarded i4i $200 million against Microsoft as a reasonable royalty. Under 35 U.S.C. § 282, a patent, which has been examined and issued by the USPTO is entitled to a presumption of validity in courts, and this presumption can be overcome based on clear and convincing evidence. On appeal to the SCOTUS Microsoft argued that the clear and convincing evidence standard applied by the Federal Circuit was inappropriate, and that because of the backlog of unexamined patent applications at the USPTO, patent examiners do not have adequate amount of time to examine patent applications, and therefore a preponderance of the evidence standard should be applied by courts, when patent validity is challenged. The US Supreme Court rejected Microsoft's position. Judge Sotomayor wrote: "Congress has amended the patent laws to account for concerns about 'bad' patents, including by expanding the reexamination process to provide for inter partes proceedings. Through it all the evidentiary standard adopted in §282 has gone untouched." The courts also issued and confirmed a permanent injunction against Microsoft. The disputed feature has been removed from Word since.

References

External links Text of Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership, 564 U.S. 91 (2011) is available from: CourtListener Google Scholar Internet Archive (docket files) Justia Oyez (oral argument audio) Supreme Court (slip opinion) (archived)

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership

In research: Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Discovery and invention controversies, Microsoft litigation, Software patent case law, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership in simple terms?

Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership, 564 U.S. 91 (2011), was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States.

Why does Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership.