Some SQL Server software developers may have to pay extra license fees.
A judgment by the Washington Superior Court of King County could prove very costly for some Microsoft customers and partners using the vendor’s SQL Server database. That’s the view of software vendor Timeline, which won the landmark judgment against the Redmond, Washington software giant.
The judgment confirms that a 1999 licensing agreement between the two companies does in fact restrict Microsoft’s ability to sublicense Timeline’s patented data warehouse and data mart design technology, which is widely employed in its SQL Server database product. This means that SQL Server users, including ISVs or custom VARs that have created a new product by adding their own code, now have to pay a licensing fee to use Timeline’s technology.
The roots of the case can be traced back to 1999, when Microsoft initially approached the Washington court to clarify the exact terms of the licensing agreement with Timeline.
The two companies’ interpretations at the time were quite different. Microsoft, on the one hand, was of the opinion that its SQL Server users and partners were under no obligation to pay any software fees for sublicensing Timeline’s technology. Timeline however begged to differ, asserting the agreement clearly distinguishes between users of Microsoft products and certain third party software developers to whom Microsoft could not sublicense.
Microsoft’s tactics were to go on the offensive, while at the same time giving its SQL Server customers numerous assurances. It subsequently filed a lawsuit against Timeline asking the court to allow it to ignore the language in its patent license with Timeline; specifically the limitation the parties had negotiated on sublicensing.
In retrospect, Microsoft’s tactics may be justified in terms of protecting its own user base. But equally, Microsoft could be seen to be following a hidden agenda of effectively ‘freezing’ Timeline out of leveraging its patent-protected niche in the SQL Server market for nearly four years so that it could launch its own products and strategy.
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