Software giant used technology he developed
A Korean university professor has won a six-year patent lawsuit against Microsoft, the world's largest software company. On November 24, a court sided with professor Lee Keung-ha of Hankuk Aviation University in a case that began in 2000, when Lee sued Microsoft for using technology he developed that automatically changes the input mode between English and Korean depending on the language being used in word-processing programs. "I sued because everyone I knew at the time encouraged me to fight for what was mine," said Lee. It is never an easy fight, however, when one individual takes on a massive international corporation in the courts. An earlier decision sided with Microsoft. Then there were the tactics."Microsoft put together a team of experts and seemed to be waiting for me to get worn out while they took their time in a long legal battle," Lee said. He worked with the patent consulting firm P&IB and built up a strong case against the software conglomerate. "That made all the difference." Lee says the case cost him a lot of time that would have been invested in the further development of Korean input technology. "Now I'm going to get started again," he said. Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]
