July 28 News Chief Counsel of Microsoft's Japanese unit said on Wednesday Takashi Hirano, in view of Sony, Mitsubishi and Panasonic electronics giants would seem to be three to make the testimony against Microsoft, the company to make a fair competition with JapanCommission (JFTC) for the preparation of a protracted lawsuit.
According to itworld website reported, Hirano said the stalemate, said the current debate has been caught to be heating up again in early 2006, when the JFTC may call Sony, Mitsubishi and Panasonic all three companies to testify in court to prove that Microsoft violated antitrust laws in Japan.
The legal dispute between Microsoft and JFTC began in October last year.JFTC was sued Microsoft, accusing it of the Windows license agreement contains provisions that do not meet legal requirements.According to the Commission, the license terms of those restrictions in the future, the Japanese computer makers found that Microsoft infringed on its patent lawsuit against Microsoft when the power of the terms of the problem.
Microsoft was denied all charges made on.But last year's February 21, on the JFTC investigation began five days of Microsoft and Microsoft on the PC maker said the future of the contract will be canceled these terms.
According to Microsoft spokesman Kazunori Ishii in Tokyo said the company last year from August 1 to the contract signed after the addition of these terms, and this policy is still to be implemented worldwide.
However, these initiatives have not played much of Microsoft's help.If the parties can not resolve their differences before the end of this year, Microsoft may face a protracted war.
Hirano said the two sides together seems less likely solution, since Microsoft is hard to understand from the JFTC's legal dispute that claim.
"Over the past year we have been trying to figure out a lot of JFTC the fuzzy point of view. We can not understand their ideas, we have more than 100 questions they asked, but there are still not fully understood."
For Microsoft, with the Japan Fair Trade Commission, this legal dispute between the significant, because it involves Microsoft in 10 years Japan has the authority to carry out behavior.Microsoft argued that it had authorized enterprises and acceptance of the consultative process for too long, they can not be forced to sign the license agreement.
Hirano said, "We refuse to accept the OEM is forced to accept the terms of the patent to avoid prosecution. We signed a contract with them for too long before the terms of the negotiations and did a lot of changes. Sony, Mitsubishi and Panasonic and other companies, said WindowsSome of the contents of patent infringement, but when we asked the JFTC in the end, what infringing patents, JFTC but could not come. "
Hirano said that Microsoft would like to end this dispute as soon as possible, but I am afraid that the ruling until early 2007 at the earliest.
Hirano also said that if Microsoft loses, they will appeal the High Court of Japan, which will likely continue into 2010 later.
JFTC's chief negotiator, according to a long Masayuki Yamaguchi said, JFTC will be held August 29 to respond to Microsoft, but will also set up the same day, the next date of hearing.