Microsoft has filed a lawsuit against Canadian software company Corel over infringement of nine of its patents.
Amongst the patents, Microsoft claims that Corel Write and Corel Calculate are using a software slider that allows users to zoom-in and zoom-out.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, an international non-profit digital rights group, dubbed the legal action as its "Stupid Patent of the Month".
The EFF further cliamed that if Microsoft wins the suit, Corel might have to hand over all of the profit it has made from Corel Home Office.
The team also said that Microsoft’s win could set a precedent in which a simple design patent can be used to shut down a legitimate competition.
In the lawsuit Microsoft claims: "Corel has copied the look and feel of the Microsoft interfaces in its accused products.
"Among many examples, Help for WordPerfect X7 suggests that the user "simulate the Microsoft Word workspace until you are accustomed to work in WordPerfect."
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According to Microsoft, Corel was the first one to pick a fight after the Canadian software maker sued Microsoft for infringing on several of its patents.
The company claimed that Microsoft’s Preview application was using its "RealTime Preview" feature that was invented by Corel engineers.
