Reference no: EM131657297

Question: AT&T Corp. owns a patent on an apparatus for digitally encoding and compressing recorded speech. Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system includes software that will enable a computer to process speech in a manner covered by AT&T's patent. However, the patent would not be infringed unless and until Windows was installed on a computer and the computer would then be able to perform in the way contemplated by the patent. Microsoft sells Windows to computer manufacturers, some of which are foreign companies. The purchasing manufacturers install Windows on the computers they build and sell. To each of the foreign manufacturers, Microsoft sends a master version of Windows, either on a disk or in an encrypted electronic transmission. The foreign manufacturers then use the master version of Windows to create copies of it. The copies of Windows-rather than the master version provided by Microsoft-are installed on the foreign manufacturers' computers, which are then sold to users outside the United States. In a U.S. district court, AT&T sued Microsoft for patent infringement on the basis of the above facts. Was Microsoft liable for patent infringement in regard to its dealings with the foreign manufacturers(FMs)?