Visto sues Microsoft for patent infringement

Visto Corp, a maker of software for wireless e-mail, said on Thursday it filed a lawsuit against Microsoft Corp. for infringing Visto patents for technology that support e-mail on mobile devices. The suit, filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, was made a day after Visto licensed patents belonging to NTP, the company that is engaged in a patent challenge to Research in Motion. The NTP case could shut most service to the BlackBerry communications device reports New York Times.

Visto said it is seeking a permanent injunction to stop Microsoft from "misappropriating" technology from Visto and its co-founder developed nearly 10 years ago. Microsoft's wireless e-mail product, Windows Mobile Direct Push Technology, will be introduced in the spring.

Visto contends that Microsoft's software violates three patents that deal more with synchronizing data and security than directly with wireless e-mail, the crucial element of NTP's patents."They have a product that they look like they've copied from us," Mr. Bogosian said. He acknowledged that no one at Visto had examined or used the Microsoft system, which, like BlackBerry, is aimed primarily at corporate users.

Visto's customers include Vodafone Group Plc, the world's biggest mobile service provider, as well as U.S. market leader Cingular Wireless, a venture of AT&T Inc. and BellSouth, and Sprint Nextel Corp..