In the case of Uniloc’s patent infringement, the jury brought in the verdict against Microsoft. During the Court Appeals, Uniloc succeeded to prove that Microsoft was using illegally its software for detecting piracy. This cost Microsoft $388 million, being found guilty and “fundamentally tainted by the use of a legally inadequate methodology.”

The first round of juridical confrontations was held during 2009, when US District Judge William Smith was convinced by the Japanese company – Uniloc.

The trials between the two software companies are not new–this particular patent case goes back to 2003. Back then, Microsoft’s Windows XP and some programs from the Office suite were reported to use registering software not belonging to the incriminated company. From the $564 million – the compensations asked by Uniloc, representing 2.9% of Microsoft’s revenues from the use of their software, the company received only $388 million in damages.

Uniloc initiated similar trials against Symantec and Adobe, while Microsoft experienced similar juridical issues with Abbott Laboratories.

Other recent cases of patent infringement were Paul Allen’s suits against Google, Facebook, Netflix, Yahoo, eBay, YouTUbe and AOL, sustaining the accusation that these companies were using Microsoft’s software 90’s developments.  Another recent case, at a smaller proportion, involves Skype’s alleged patent infringement. The chat and VoIP software is being challenged by Gradient Enterprise, which claims that the network’s monitoring and security software is their invention.