There were a couple of big news items this week related to Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL). Microsoft released Office 365 software, a web-based productivity software product, symbolizing a move away from the traditional way of selling software to cloud computing. [1] This week Oracle cited in a claim that it is seeking $2.6 billion in damages from Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) as part of its patent infringement lawsuit over Java. [2]
Microsoft
Microsoft launched the beta version of Office 365 in the autumn of 2010, and the global market release this week represents a major product release from the company. Through Office 365, Microsoft is not only looking at cementing its position in productivity software market, but also ride on the faster growth expected out of cloud-computing market. Microsoft’s stock showed upward trend this week and increased from around $24.3 at the beginning of the week to around $26 as of today, as shown above.
Oracle
Oracle original lawsuit claim was filed in August last year, in which it claimed that Android infringes on many patents related to Java, the programming language that Oracle became the owner of when it acquired Sun Microsystems. Oracle said that it had offered Google reasonable licensing terms, but that Google chose to press ahead with Android without a license.
Notes:- Microsoft Announces Office 365 globally, news center, June 28th, 2011 [↩]
- Document filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, June 28th, 2011 [↩]
