Microsoft patent ruling hits "Auto Play"

A federal judge ruled against Microsoft on Wednesday in a patent suit challenging "AutoPlay" technology included in recent versions of Microsoft Windows.

Judge Jeffrey White of US District Court for the Northern District of California denied three Microsoft motions for summary judgment in a suit filed by TV Interactive Data (TVI), a small California company specialising in interactive television technology.

Each motion sought to invalidate TVI patents cited in the case, on grounds of prior art and other causes. White ruled Microsoft offered insufficient evidence against the patents, and the case should go to trial as scheduled.

TVI filed the suit in 2002, alleging that AutoPlay technology included in every PC version of Microsoft's operating system since Windows 95 infringes on its US patents 5,795,156 and 6,249,863.

AutoPlay examines the contents of a CD-ROM or other type of optical disc that is inserted into a Windows PC and automatically executes the most appropriate task, such as launching the installation program for a new software application.

Both TVI patents cover a "host device equipped with means for starting a process in response to detecting insertion of a storage media" and describe an "autostart driver in the host device [that] detects insertion of a storage media into a peripheral and automatically starts an application."

David Becker writes for News.com