Patent Infringement Claims Suggest Microsoft Heading for Open Source Litigation

As open source proponents dismiss Microsoft's patent violation claims, analyst Rob Enderle sees the software giant heading for litigation, with Red Hat in its sights.

Louisville, KY (PRWEB) May 16, 2007 -- With Microsoft claiming that Linux and other open source software violates 235 of its patents, at the same time the company is cross-licensing patents it says Linux has violated, analyst Rob Enderle sees the Redmond software giant positioning itself for litigation. The big question, says Enderle in his blog (http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/rob/?p=112) on the IT Business Edge (http://www.itbusinessedge.com/) Web site, is who will be the initial target of any legal action by Microsoft.

"My take is Microsoft will put litigation off as long as it can," Enderle says, "but is on a path where I don't think it can avoid litigation forever if it wants to actually protect its patents."

Listing the likely first targets for such litigation, Enderle includes IBM (http://www.itbusinessedge.com/search/?q=IBM) as the largest un-licensed supplier of Linux, the Linux Foundation as a proxy for Linux itself, and Red Hat (http://www.itbusinessedge.com/search/?q=red+hat) as the most powerful Linux distribution brand. However, Enderle thinks IBM has too much legal firepower and cross-licensing ammo to provide the overwhelming victory Microsoft (http://www.itbusinessedge.com/search/?q=microsoft) would seek in its first legal assault on open source. On the other hand, the relatively meager resources the Linux Foundation is likely to bring to court would leave Microsoft looking like a bully and provide a rallying point for its foes. That leaves Red Hat with a bull's-eye on its back, being neither a legal pushover nor an opponent with resources nearly equal to those of Microsoft.

Enderle's full analysis of Microsoft's recent actions, as well as his advice to Linux-using enterprises who want to avoid getting caught in the crossfire, can be found at his blog:

http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/rob/

About Rob Enderle

Before founding the Enderle Group, of which he is president and principle analyst, Rob Enderle was an analyst for Forrester Research and the Giga Information Group, heading up research on topics such as ecommerce and security, as well as mobile and personal technology services. Prior to that he covered the client/server sector for Dataquest and worked for IBM in its executive resource program.

Enderle's ability to forecast developments in the technology market have made him arguably the most prominent voice of technology in the media. He has been quoted by the Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, CNN, CNBC, the AP, Reuters, Bloomberg, New York Times, LA Times, Mercury News, MSNBC, NPR, and countless other services and newspapers. Enderle sits on the advisory councils for IBM, Toshiba, AMD, HP, Dell, Philips, and the Trusted Computing Group.

About IT Business Edge and NarrowCast Group LLC

IT Business Edge is a "technology intelligence agent" that updates subscribers on developments related to their most critical IT priorities. Via its Web site (ITBusinessEdge.com) and weekly e-mail reports, IT Business Edge delivers news, research and analysis aggregated from more than 2,400 technology publishers, vendors, analysts and associations.

IT Business Edge is published by NarrowCast Group, LLC, a privately held online media company that targets high-level business technology decision-makers. The company offers IT vendors varied opportunities to access this coveted audience through high-impact advertising and lead-generation programs. Through an array of partnerships with other publishers, NarrowCast Group also markets select books, training products and software tools directly to its subscribers, creating a diverse revenue model while meeting the comprehensive information needs of its customers.

For more information about NarrowCast Group and IT Business Edge, go to http://www.itbusinessedge.com/aboutus.aspx.

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