14 DAY TRIAL // A few days after the US government decided to extend by two years its oversight of some of the company's business practices, Microsoft faces yet another lawsuit.
Symantec, one of the most important security software producers, has sued Microsoft for misappropriating its intellectual property and for breaching the contract.
The lawsuit filed by the Cupertino-based security company seeks an injunction to stop Microsoft from selling Vista.
According to the Associated Press, the dispute is over a technology that allows operating systems to handle large amounts of data.
Symantec, based in Cupertino, Calif., acquired the technology through its acquisition of Veritas Software Corp. last year. Veritas and Redmond-based Microsoft had signed a licensing agreement, but Symantec claims the terms were violated.
Symantec is now accusing Microsoft of breaching the contract's terms and using the technology in question to create a rival product.
The US government recently decided to extend its oversight over Microsoft until 2009. It seems that the software giant's efforts under parts of the settlement have been "disappointing" and "not very encouraging", the government's lawyers even talking about extending the period until 2012.