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From en.swpat.org

Microsoft has a number of patents on how to deal with filename in their commonly used FAT filesystem. These patents have been issued in the USA, Germany, and surely a long list of other countries.

The FAT patents have the interesting property of being useful only for compatibility with the patent owner. The FAT patents are not otherwise useful; in fact the FAT filesystem is technically undesirable. Those who wish to make use of the patent are clearly seeking compatibility, not innovation or other useful properties.

Contents 1 In the USA 1.1 Timeline 2 In Europe 2.1 Upheld in Germany 3 Related pages on en.swpat.org 4 External links 5 References

[edit] In the USA

In December 2003, Microsoft announced^[1] licensing requirements of four patents for the FAT filesystem:

• US5,579,517 "The '517 patent"
• US5,758,352 "The '352 patent" (The EPO equivalent is EP0618550)
• U.S. Patent #5,745,902
• U.S. Patent #6,286,013

[edit] Timeline

• Autumn 2003: MS starts threatening people^[2][3]
• September 2004: The '517 patent is rejected^[4] thanks to the work of PubPat^[5] and others.
• January 2006: The '517 patent is reinstated^[6]
• January 2009: Microsoft uses its FAT patents against TomTom

[edit] In Europe

The patents granted by the European Patent Office are:

• EP0618550 - upheld in Germany, see below (equivalent to US5,758,352)
•  ?

[edit] Upheld in Germany

(See: X ZR 27/07 (2010, April, Germany))

• German appeal court upholds Microsoft FAT patent, The H, April 2010 (also: slashdot story)
• Federal Patent Court declares FAT patent of Microsoft null and void, The H, April 2007 (also: slashdot story)
• (in German) WINDOWS - Dateiverwaltung beruht auf, patentfähiger Erfindung (^[?] English translations: Google, Babelfish)
• (in German) Text of the appeal court decision (^[?] English translations: Google, Babelfish)

[edit] Related pages on en.swpat.org

• Microsoft
• Microsoft vs. TomTom - where MS forced TomTom to pay for patents, seemingly including their FAT patents
• Litigation
• Example software patents

[edit] External links

• How Linus Torvalds Helped Bust a Microsoft Patent, 27 Mar 2012, Wired
• PubPat: Microsoft FAT Patent (page out of date)
• Groklaw report on A patch to remove VFAT filename conversion from the Linux kernel,
  • the LKML thread
  • A related FAQ produced by Andrew Tridgell and Linux Foundation
• Microsoft's IP chief on TomTom, Linux and patents, techflash, Feb 2009

[edit] References

1. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20041229090400/http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/ip/tech/fat.asp
2. ↑ http://www.pubpat.org/Microsoft_517_Reexam_Filed.htm
3. ↑ http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/12/05/1070351761346.html
4. ↑ http://www.pubpat.org/assets/files/MicrosoftFAT/Reynolds_517_Rejected_040916.PDF
5. ↑ http://www.pubpat.org/Microsoft_517_Rejected.htm
6. ↑ http://news.cnet.com/Microsofts-file-system-patent-upheld/2100-1012_3-6025447.html