Microsoft being sued for theft, again…

Asreported on Silicon.com, a Rueters article states that:

Microsoft illegally took technology used to link spreadsheet data between two of its programs from a Guatemalan inventor, lawyers said during opening statements at a jury trial that started on Tuesday.

In a lawsuit, Carlos Armando Amado said he filed a patent application in 1990 for software that links Microsoft’s Excel program with its Access database application via a single spreadsheet, and that he unsuccessfully tried to sell it to Microsoft two years later.

Egg on face again for Microsoft? A jury will decide soon, but even if proven guilty - most likely not. Microsoft has a habit of settling out of court so as to save face.

A few links documenting this history:
Microsoft the Company - The House Monopoly Built covering 1982 - 2003.
A Google search for the words:

Microsoft sued court settlement

results in 126,000 results, and to narrow it down even more, another Google search for:

“Microsoft sued” settlement

still yeilds 1,200 pages.

Gotta protect that stock price you know…