Updated: July 12, 2020 (August 23, 2010)

  Analyst Report

Patent Suits Resolved

My Atlas / Analyst Reports

573 wordsTime to read: 3 min
Michael Cherry by
Michael Cherry

Michael analyzed and wrote about Microsoft's operating systems, including the Windows client OS, as well as compliance and governance. Michael... more

Three ongoing patent actions were resolved in Microsoft’s favor in Aug. 2010, as Microsoft and Salesforce.com agreed to cross-license each other’s intellectual property, Microsoft and Datel settled a patent dispute over Xbox game controllers, and a different court held that Microsoft’s Xbox did not infringe on an existing patent for an “Apparatus and Method for Electrically Connecting Remote Video Games.”

Salesforce.com Patent Agreement

Microsoft and Salesforce.com compete in two areas: customer relationship management solutions and platforms to host online software.

Their patent dispute started when Microsoft filed a patent-infringement suit against Salesforce.com in May 2010 in the U.S. District Court for Western Washington. Salesforce.com countered by filing suit against Microsoft for patent infringement in the U.S. District Court for Delaware. In Aug. 2010, both companies agreed to drop their suits and cross-license each other’s intellectual property.

Although details of the agreement were not disclosed, the following is known:

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