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View Full Version : Sendo-Microsoft lawsuit to proceed in Texas


Jason Dunn
10-03-2003, 10:00 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39116812,00.htm' target='_blank'>http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39116812,00.htm</a><br /><br /></div>"Sendo's allegations that Microsoft used underhand tactics to get hold of its secrets will be scrutinised in court, after the software giant failed to have the lawsuit dismissed UK phone-maker Sendo has won a small victory in its legal battle against Microsoft. On Tuesday, a US judge sitting in Texarkana, Texas, rejected an attempt by Microsoft to have a lawsuit brought against it by Sendo dismissed or moved to Washington state.<br /><br />Instead, the judge has allowed much of the substance of the case to proceed. The lawsuit will continue to be heard in Texas, with the trial likely to start at the end of next year. "We're pleased with this outcome. The fact that the lawsuit was not dismissed shows that it's obviously a legitimate complaint," Sendo director of communications Marijke van Hooren told ZDNet UK on Wednesday."<br /><br />Hmm - not good news for Microsoft or the Smartphone platform! Still, I can't imagine this slowing Microsoft down any - the legal system never seems to. :lol:

Matt
10-04-2003, 07:05 AM
1. Was there knowledge transfer between MS and HTC regarding Sendo (how could there not be)

2. Will MS Lose against sendo, No (see 5.)

3. Will MS have to pay sendo tens of millions, yes.

4. Was Sendo incompetent and couldn’t deliver. yes

5. In the end, the publicity (even though bad) will justify the pay-out. And in the end-end it will not matter because MS will eventually dominate the handset as it does the desktop.

Thoughts??

David McNamee
10-04-2003, 08:45 PM
1. Was there knowledge transfer between MS and HTC regarding Sendo

That's pretty much the crux of their complaint. They're going to have to rip open their z100, rip open HTC's Canary, then prove to the court that pieces are identical. Then they have to prove that their engineers created those pieces before HTC. Then they have to prove that HTC's only channel to learn how to build those pieces ran through Microsoft. I'm not a lawyer, but that seems like a tough case to prove unless they can produce strong witnesses or copies of e-mails.

(how could there not be)

Pretty easily, I think - all that has to happen is for Microsoft's people to keep their mouths shut. Now, I don't have any contact with people in the division at Microsoft responsible for managing the relationships with the device hardware partners. I do, however, have frequent contact with Microsoft personnel in the Certified Partner channel, Training & Certification, and Consulting Services groups. Everyone I've worked with has always been very conscious of keeping confidential partner and client information confidential.

I'm not trying to make any pronouncements of Microsoft's guilt or innocence - we'll let the courts do that. But I do think that assumptions, at this point, that Microsoft employees acted improperly are unwarranted.