Microsoft removes Custom XML features from Office 2007
As my colleague Mary Jo Foley reported earlier today, Microsoft has lost a crucial court judgment over technology used in Office 2007: … Registered OEM partners got a tip-off that the judgment was on its way Monday afternoon …
Context & Ripple Effects
This is the second patent blow Microsoft has absorbed this year on shipping products: back in May 2009 it took a $200 million patent verdict, and the Custom XML ruling reported here by Ed Bott and Mary Jo Foley forces a change to code already in customers' hands. Registered OEM partners were tipped off Monday afternoon that the judgment was coming, giving them a short runway before the removal ships.
What makes the move notable is that the mechanism already existed: as Mary Jo Foley documented back in November 2006, Office 2007 carried a 'kill switch' capability that drew criticism at launch. Three years later Microsoft is using exactly that kind of remote-update path not for piracy enforcement but to comply with a court order.
First-order effects
- Office 2007 users who built documents or line-of-business workflows on Custom XML lose that functionality once the compliant build reaches them, with no substitute feature offered.
- OEM partners who were alerted Monday afternoon must rework images and deployments mid-cycle, absorbing the change on Microsoft's legal timetable rather than their own.
Second-order effects
- Third-party developers and integrators selling Custom XML-based add-ons to Office 2007 customers face forced rewrites or stranded products, since the API surface they target disappears beneath them.
- Enterprises weighing Office 2007 deployments get fresh evidence that features they license can be revoked by litigation, pushing procurement teams to demand contractual protection against court-mandated removals.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds — a May 2009 verdict followed by a December removal — patent holders gain a playbook for reaching into shipped, installed software, making post-sale feature stability a legal question rather than a vendor promise.
- Microsoft's response discipline here matters beyond Office: a company defending its monopolistic-behavior reputation (as Foley assessed in 2007) cannot be seen slow-walking compliance, so expect faster concession-to-removal cycles whenever judgments land against its flagship products.
The trend: Patent litigation is becoming a force that can strip features out of already-shipped mass-market software, turning court rulings into product roadmaps.