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Microsoft sued for refusing source code
AMSTERDAM, Holland (Reuters) -- British mobile phone maker Sendo said on Monday it had filed suit in U.S. federal court against its former partner Microsoft in a dispute over intellectual property. "Sendo believes the allegations are serious and substantial," a Sendo spokeswoman told Reuters. Microsoft executives in Europe declined to comment on Monday. But they said several weeks ago, when rumors emerged about a conflict between the two firms over misuse by Microsoft of proprietary information, that such allegations were without merit. Sendo in November cancelled all cooperation with Microsoft when it was just weeks away from launching a mobile phone running on Microsoft software. Microsoft is a minority shareholder in Sendo. Getting access to 'source code'At the time Sendo declined to give all the reasons for the split, saying only that it had not been given access to so-called 'source code' which would allow it to tailor the software. It made clear there were more important reasons behind the move, but declined to give details for legal reasons. Sendo has filed the suit in Texarkana, Texas. Sendo went on to sign a contract with Microsoft rivals Symbian of Britain and Nokia of Finland, sacrificing a potential 300 million euro revenue stream from its Microsoft-based phone. It had already signed supply deals with many mobile telecoms carriers around the world. Had Sendo continued to work with Microsoft, it would have established the British firm as the leading partner in Microsoft's attempt to crack the mobile phone business. Rocky relationship endsThe relationship between privately-held Sendo and its minority shareholder Microsoft was always rocky, with both firms complaining about each other's attitude, sources close to the companies said. Over the past year Microsoft executives told several people in the telecoms industry how they had to endure Sendo's skeptical take on Microsoft's mobile software, designed to repeat Microsoft's success in desktop computer software. These Microsoft executives said they preferred to work with two other hardware partners in Asia which were much more appreciative of its product. The Microsoft-Sendo dispute came to a head when the first Microsoft-based products were introduced. Several sources said last month that Sendo management believed certain special features it had put in its phone over and above Microsoft's usual standard operating system had emerged in other smartphones Microsoft was involved in. One rival phone, called the Orange SPV, was produced by Taiwan's High Tech Computer (HTC) for French-owned mobile telecoms operator Orange. That phone, the world's first smartphone using a slimmed-down version of Microsoft Windows desktop PC software, was launched two weeks before Sendo decided to stop working with Microsoft. The break-up came just days before Sendo would have started shipping its own smartphone z100, whose launch was cancelled as a result of the split. It had deals with several large mobile operators in Europe, Asia and the United States, and had said it would sign over a dozen contracts soon. Ambitious plans fall apartAlthough small, Sendo was Microsoft's most ambitious partner for its new smartphone software. It had orders and plans to sell over one million of its smartphone z100s in the first year. At around 350 euros per phone, the Sendo z100 would have been some 15-20 percent more expensive than HTC's SPV phone, with few unique features to justify the difference. Under the new deal with Symbian and Nokia, Sendo has been allowed to access Nokia's source code and tailor the software, but it could take another 12 months before it can launch a smart new phone. Copyright 2002 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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