A few weeks ago, we informed you about the accusations brought by an expert from Guatemala, Carlos Armando Amado, who claimed that Microsoft has infringed his Excel patents.

The plaintiff submitted in 1990 a patent request for a technology that linked the Excel program to the Access database program via a single spreadsheet.

A few years later, Carlos tried to sell the solution to Microsoft; at that time he was still a student at the Stanford University.

Although Microsoft rejected it, Access included in all its versions Carlos's solution without giving any credit to its true developer.

The California Court of Law heard the case and ruled in favor of the Guatemalan engineer who will receive $8.6 mln, a figure which will surely make his life better. Carlos had also other claims: $2 for each sold copy of Access, amounting to a whooping $500 mln. Still, the judges considered this demand exaggerated and overruled it.