Microsoft answer to mobile phone lawsuit expected Monday
Sendoalleges software vendor plundered secrets
— Bob Brewin, Computerworld
Microsoft. must file a reply on Monday in a lawsuit filed last month against it by Sendo Ltd., a Birmingham , England-based mobile phone developer.
Sendo formed a partnership with Microsoft in October 1999 to help develop e-mail- and Internet-enabled mobile telephone handsets based on Microsoft’s Stinger operating system for use by cellular carriers worldwide.
In its suit, Sendo alleged that Microsoft used the partnership to “plunder” Sendo’s intellectual property, proprietary hardware expertise and trade secrets and then transfer them to other manufacturers.
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern Division of Texas granted Microsoft one extension to reply to the lawsuit, but the case docket shows that the court did not grant a second extension. Jon Murchison, a Microsoft spokesman, confirmed that the company would file its response Monday.
Whatever the outcome of the case, analysts said the publicity generated by the Sendo suit has already damaged Microsoft in its attempts to penetrate the mobile phone industry, which is dominated by manufacturers such as Nokia in Espoo, Finland, that have developed their own operating systems and mobile applications platforms.
Barney Dewey, an analyst at Outlook 4Mobility, in Los Gatos , Calif. , said the allegations made by Sendo reinforce suspicions by mobile phone manufacturers about Microsoft’s tactics as it attempts to enter their industry.
The cell phone manufactures, Dewey said, are concerned that Microsoft “is going to take its PC model and apply it to their industry in spades.” The allegations in the Sendo suit, Dewey said, “does not do Microsoft much good” as it seeks mobile phone partners.
