Business Objects suit to be heard

Software company Business Objects said Friday that a federal appeals court has ordered a trial in a patent infringement lawsuit that the company filed against competitor MicroStrategy.

Business Objects, which makes data analysis software, filed the suit in 2001, claiming MicroStrategy copied technology related to a concept called "semantically dynamic objects" that Business Objects had earned a patent on. In 2003, a court dismissed the suit. But on Friday, an appeals court overturned the 2003 decision and said the case should go to trial, according to Business Objects. A MicroStrategy representative was not immediately available for comment.