Supreme Court won't hear Microsoft appeal

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to consider Microsoft's appeal in a long-running patent infringement case, according to lawyers for the Guatamalan inventor who sued Microsoft. In June, a federal appeals court upheld a ruling that Microsoft's Office software infringes on technology patented by inventor Carlos Armando Amado. In June 2005, an Orange County, Calif., jury awarded Amado $6.1 million, ruling that Microsoft's method of linking its Access database and Excel spreadsheet infringed on Amado's technology. Amado's law firm, Morrison & Forrester, said Monday that the decision by the high court not to hear the case should pave the way for proceedings to determine how much money, currently held in an escrow account, will be released to Amado.

Microsoft said it was "disappointed" that the Supreme Court would not review the case. The company also noted that it has already removed the feature of Access that was found to infringe on Amado's patent. "We will now shift our focus to preparing for additional proceedings relating to this case at the district court level," Microsoft spokesman Jack Evans said in a statement.