w00t! Microsoft FAT patent overturned, can't extort flash makers

[DaveSimmons]

Last year MS started trying to extort money from flash card makers for a patent on the FAT file system most flash cards use.

The front page of Ars Technica has a news item on this patent being overturned. PUBPAT wins

The Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) initiated a challenge of the of Microsoft's patent in June of this year, claiming that previously unseen prior art demonstrated that the patent should never have been granted. In addition, the Patent Office also found that some of the grounds for the original applicaiton were unpatentable. Microsoft has the opportunity to appeal the PTO's decision; however, it is not yet apparent whether they will choose to do so.

So hopefully we won't be paying a "camera memory tax" for your digicam on top of the "windows tax" most of us pay Redmond for our PCs, and they won't get to follow in unisys' stealth GIF patent footsteps.