14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has revealed the fact that it has cast a positive vote in support of the addition of OpenDocument Format (ODF) 1.0 to the nonexclusive American National Standards list, after on Monday, it accused free and open source software, including Linux and OpenOffice, of violating no less than 235 of its patents.
Microsoft is on an all out offensive to counter the alleged copyright infringement of Microsoft patents by open source and free solutions. Microsoft's licensing chief Horacio Gutierrez and General Counsel Brad Smith revealed that the OpenOffice productivity suite infringed on 45 of the company's patents.
"We have listened to our customers, and they have told us they want choice, they want interoperability, they want innovation," said Tom Robertson, general manager for Interoperability and Standards at Microsoft. "The American National Standards list does not include a number of document format standards in wide use today, such as PDF, .doc, RTF and HTML. The inclusion of ODF is just the beginning; we expect the list will grow in the future to reflect the choices customers already have in today's marketplace."
Additionally, Microsoft claims that "a thriving community" has been built around the Ecma Open XML file formats, and mentioned that its standards are also on the list and waiting for ANSI approval. Currently, Microsoft Open XML formats are in the process of receiving international standardization via ISO, by 2007 or 2008 the latest.
"ODF 1.0 has been adopted by ISO for approximately a year now. It's a fairly common practice for ANSI to conduct a public review of new ISO standards to determine whether they should be added to the American National Standards list. With the standardization of Office XML file formats, and Microsoft's making any patents needed to implement all or part of it available for free, partners are free to use the formats to deliver higher quality solutions to their customers. Customers want new and innovative ways to access data previously locked in documents and use it seamlessly in their business processes, regardless of whether they are using Microsoft technologies or those developed by other vendors," Robertson added.