Microsoft FAT Patent Falls Flat
As part of a re-examination, the U.S. Patent Office has issued a preliminary rejection for a patent previously granted to Microsoft for a Windows file format.
Source: c|netThe agency ruled that, based on existing inventions at the time, the ideas behind the FAT (File Allocation Table) patent would have been obvious and are therefore not subject to patent. Microsoft now has 90 days to respond to the filing and make its case for why the patent should be upheld. The Patent Office's ruling, known as an "office action," is not final, since Microsoft has further opportunities to respond before an ultimate decision is made. "It's just one substantive step in an ongoing process," said Mark Goldstein, a lawyer with the SoCal IP Law Group.
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