SEATTLE -- Microsoft said Wednesday it will appeal a federal order backing rival Sun Microsystems in a dispute over the Java programming language.
Microsoft filed a notice of appeal with US District Judge Ronald Whyte in San Jose, California, who last month said Sun was likely to prevail in its breach-of-contract lawsuit. Whyte issued a preliminary injunction ordering Microsoft to modify its Windows 98 operating system and other products.
"We fundamentally disagree with the federal district court ruling," said Microsoft spokesman Jim Cullinan. The company now has 28 days to file a brief supporting its case with the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco.
Cullinan said the company would continue to comply with the injunction even as it presses the appeal. Whyte gave Microsoft 90 days to bring its products into compliance with Sun compatibility tests. Last week, Microsoft made available a new version of its Java Virtual Machine for Windows, and Cullinan said the company is taking additional steps to comply with the ruling.
Regardless of the appeal's outcome, the lawsuit will continue, although no trial date has yet been set, Cullinan said.
Sun sued Microsoft in 1997, charging that the world's largest software company violated its 1996 agreement to license Java in an effort to "pollute" the language, which it saw as a potential threat to the dominance of the Windows platform.
A top Sun executive testified against Microsoft last week at the company's antitrust trial in Washington, providing evidence to support the case of federal and state regulators who contend the software giant has used illegal means to maintain a monopoly.
Copyright© 1998 Reuters Limited.
