Major IT giants support Microsoft against "patent trolls"

A number of major American companies have supported Microsoft in its patent dispute with the Canadian company i4i.

Among them are Google, Intel, Apple, Yahoo!, Facebook, and many others. A total of nine petitions in support of Microsoft were filed with the Supreme Court. The documentary nature of these petitions makes them mandatory for consideration by the court.

The court previously ordered Microsoft to pay $290 million for infringing patents owned by i4i.

The petitioners demand that the court completely change the patent litigation process. The IT companies' initiative is aimed at "patent trolls," a term used to describe small companies that litigate and profit from lawsuits against large corporations.

i4i sued Microsoft for using i4i technology in its Word text editor and Windows Vista operating system. As a result, a court even banned the import and sale of Word in the United States.