HC orders Mumbai firm to pay Rs. 2 lakh to Microsoft

A Mumbai-based firm has to pay Rs. 2 lakh as penalty to Microsoft for selling unlicensed versions of the company's software, like Windows 7, Windows Vista and MS Office loaded onto computers. The Delhi High Court has imposed this fine on the firm for breaching the intellectual property rights of the software giant and asked it to stop selling such computers. On accepting Microsoft Corporation’s plea, judge Manmohan Singh has granted permanent injunction to M/s Gizgahertz and its proprietor Nimesh from using Microsoft hard-disk in computers and selling them to customers, reports Business Standard. “The defendant (company) is restrained from copying/ reproducing, hard-disk loading on computers, selling/ offering for sale/ distributing/ issuing to the public pirated/ counterfeit/ unlicensed versions of Windows Vista, Microsoft Office 2007 or any other software of the plaintiffs in any manner, so as to infringe the plaintiff’s copyright,” Singh said.

Mumbai firm fined....

Microsoft had filed a suit asking the Mumbai firm to stop selling computers that are loaded with these unlicensed versions of software like Windows 7, Windows Vista and MS Office. Microsoft claimed infringement of its copyrights and intellectual property rights, as the company sold Microsoft branded products without authorization from the company. This can be taken as a warning by others following such malpractices.

This year, Microsoft has been on a roll, and there are no brownie points for guessing the reason. In the limelight is the company’s highly anticipated Windows 8 operating system, and it is accompanied by Windows RT, which is ‘Windows for ARM’ devices. The company plans to launch its new Office 2013, which is likely to be pre-loaded on its Windows RT tablets. However, Microsoft tablets are expected to be expensive, as the software giant is said to be in plans of selling the new operating system for around Rs 4,700.

Interestingly, the company also plans to dish out its own tablet, touted to be an iPad-killer. Recently, there were reports stating that Microsoft is redesigning Hotmail to be fast, fluid and intuitive. The design would resemble that of the Metro UI. The new Hotmail UI is reported to be fully customized, not only for traditional keyboard and mouse-based devices, but also touch-based devices. Furthermore, the service is likely to be called Newmail.