Chinese court rules against Microsoft in IPR case

A Chinese court has ruled that Microsoft infringed a Chinese software maker’s intellectual property rights in a surprise decision that has renewed worries among foreign patent experts and about China’s management of IPR issues, the Financial Times reported. Microsoft’s use of two Chinese fonts developed by Beijing-based Zhongyi Electronic was not covered by a license agreement between the two companies and therefore infringed Zhongyi’s intellectual property rights, the Beijing No.1 Intermediary People’s Court ruled. When the ruling takes effect, Microsoft must stop selling all PC operating systems that use the fonts, including Chinese language versions of Windows 2000, Windows XP and WIndows Server 2003.