Microsoft sues Salesforce.com over CRM patent
Microsoft has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Salesforce.com for allegedly infringing nine patents relating to customer relationship management software.
The complaint alleges Salesforce.com violated patents for data mapping, software design, web integration and graphics display, used by business customer-support departments.
The two companies are direct competitors in CRM software. Microsoft makes a competing software for corporate sales departments called Dynamics CRM.
The suit is also a rare patent case instigated by Microsoft. Although the company is often the target of patent litigation, in its 35-year history the company has only accused others of infringing its patents three times before now. The last time was in 2009 when it sued GPS maker TomTom over the company's navigation products.
"Microsoft has been a leader and innovator in the software industry for decades and continues to invest billions of dollars each year in bringing great software products and services to market," said Horacio Gutierrez, Microsoft's deputy counsel of intellectual property and licensing. "We have a responsibility to our customers, partners, and shareholders to safeguard that investment, and therefore cannot stand idly by when others infringe our IP rights."
Microsoft is seeking monetary damages as well as a temporary and permanent injunction order against Salesforce.com's further use of its CRM software. Salesform.com has so far declined to comment on the suit.
