Court Reinstates Preliminary Injunction in Sun v. Microsoft
MENLO PARK, Calif., Jan. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Federal Judge Ronald M. Whyte today reinstated the preliminary injunction granted against Microsoft in November 1998. Among other things, the Court today enjoined Microsoft from:
-- Distributing operating systems, browsers or tools that implement Sun's
Java technology but fail to pass Sun's compatibility tests;
-- Failing to warn developers that Microsoft's incompatible toolkit
products will result in applications that will run only on Microsoft's
implementations, and not on the implementations of Sun's other
licensees; and
-- Falsely advertising that Microsoft's incompatible implementations are
compatible with the specifications for the Java technology, or are
endorsed by Sun.
The Court's order is based on a motion originally filed by Sun in May 1998 seeking to enjoin as unfair competition Microsoft's distribution of incompatible products. As he did in prior rulings, Judge Whyte ruled today that Sun is entitled to specific preliminary injunctive relief barring Microsoft from engaging in certain business practices. While the Court declined to grant the relief Sun requested on the ground of copyright infringement, it agreed that the same relief should be granted based on Microsoft's unfair competition.
As the Court held, "Microsoft's exclusion of JNI threatens injury to Sun and its licensees of the Java Technology, as well as competition in the market for Java development tools. In addition, Microsoft's extensions to the Java language and its false and misleading statements to the developer community similarly threatens harm to Sun, independent software developers, and the public."
Michael Morris, General Counsel, Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW), stated, "As we have said from the start of this case, Microsoft's misconduct with respect to Sun's Java technology has harmed competition, as well as those who use and rely on the Java technology. We are gratified that Judge Whyte reinstated the preliminary injunctive relief needed to redress this injury to competition, and that he did so after finding that Microsoft's business practices had been unfair."
SOURCE Sun Microsystems, Inc.
CO: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
ST: California
IN: MLM CPR
SU: LAW
01/25/2000 15:39 EST prnewswire.com |
