Microsoft faces court order to tweak Word...or stop selling it

[This post has been updated] Microsoft faces the very real necessity of changing its ubiquitous Word program or being forbidden to sell it.

According to a posting on the Wall Street Journal's legal blog, the company has lost a patent infringement court case to a Canadian firm i4i that could result in Word 2003 or 2007 or any future Word versions being ordered off the shelves come October.

The situation is the result of a ruling made by Eastern District of Texas judge Leonard Davis on Tuesday. Judge Davis held that Microsoft infringed U.S. Patent 5,787,449, held by Michel Vulpe, the founder of a Canadian company called i4i. Judge Davis also assessed Microsoft some $290 million in fines. Click here for a story from PC Magazine; here for a piece from the Houston Chronicle (which links to the Seattle PI); here for Judge Davis’s order.

Essentially, the court has given Microsoft 60 days to change its software. Microsoft says it will appeal the verdict.

[Update: The patent might have widespread and unforseen impacts in other areas, including so-called "open source" software. ]