Canadian company i4i has won a patent infringement lawsuit against Microsoft Corp. that will see the major software maker pay the Toronto, ON-based firm $200 million.

Microsoft allegedly infringed on i4i U.S. patent number 5,787,449, which deals with a method for "manipulating the architecture and the content of a document separately from each other".

Not surprisingly, Michel Vulpe, Founder of i4i and inventor of the patent, said the company was "very pleased" with the verdict. "The jury heard extensive testimony and evidence, and concluded that Microsoft had indeed infringed our patent. We feel vindicated with this result."

"This is an important verdict for i4i, for the inventors and, more generally, for the rights of all patent owners," adds Loudon Owen, Chairman of McLean Watson Capital Inc. and i4i.

The trial ran for eight days, after which the jury determined that the $200 million sum reflected a "reasonably royalty" for Microsoft's infringement of the patent, which is said to have been used in certain versions of Microsoft Word 2003 and 2007. More important, however, is i4i's ability now to block Microsoft from further using its invention.

This verdict represents the fourth largest jury verdict in the U.S. this year to date, and the second-largest patent jury award, according to Bloomberg. 

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