The best comment on the Microsoft/i4i XML patent news

Seen on Ars Technica's story ("Killing the cash cow: Microsoft ordered to stop selling Word") - comment highlighted in bold:

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quote:

Originally posted by ajmas:
This sounds very much like RTF (Rich Text Format) and this was developed back in 1987.

I think WTF is more appropriate here than RTF.

http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/08/court-gives-microsoft-60-days-to-stop-shipping-word.ars?comments=1&comment_id=917008490041

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Indeed RTF is not prior art for the practice of storing content separate from markup (it mixes the two together) but "WTF" summarizes many people's reaction on seeing that the practice was patented (by i4i, not by someone like Jon Bozak who would be associated with XML's invention) and now Microsoft may have to stop selling Microsoft Word as a result. Though in their defense, i4i do actually use XML-based document storage in their products.

Conspiracy theorists may note, CNET reports, that one of i4i's biggest projects "was its 2001 overhaul of the US Patent and Trademark Office's own Web site for patent submissions"
[http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10308374-56.html].