ODF Not Implicated In i4i Suit

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Contrary to several reports, i4i’s patent suit against Microsoft’s infringing use of “custom XML” won’t affect the Open Document format.

The patent that i4i is protecting with its suit is a process for separating content and meta-data in different silos – something that Microsoft does with its OOXML format, used in Word 2003 and subsequent versions of the word processing program. Because other document formats, and ODF in particular, use XML, there has been confusion as to whether that document format could be affected as well.

But Paul Merrill, a founding member of the Open Document Foundation and member of the Universal Interoperability Council, told me that “ODF 1.2… is not enabling custom schemas. Instead, it’s borrowed from the World Wide Web Consortium’s [W3C] RDFa, Resource Description Framework, a key component of the W3C’s Semantic Web initiative.”

That contradicts assertions by Burton Group analyst Guy Creese, who told Visual Studio Magazine that the patent could spell trouble for the next version of ODF because “ODF 1.2 will move to a similar custom schema that OOXML has.”

Likewise, Gartner analyst Brian Prentice told CNET that the fallout from the lawsuit may “also impact ODF.”

But Merrill told me that

the statement attributed to Guy Creese from the Burton Group about OpenDocument 1.2 incorporating similar custom metadata is flatly wrong… RDFa is nothing remotely like Microsoft’s embedded custom XML schemas. Creese may have been confused by the fact that there can be some overlapping functionality. But RDF is based on subject-predicate-object expressions to describe resources. From my reading of the patent claims, RDF isn’t even remotely implicated.

My colleague Erik Sherman, with the complicity of patent expert Dennis Crouch, tries to paint Google, Apple’s iTunes, HP and even SAP, all of whom make use of XML, into the same corner as Microsof as well. But I think that’s a stretch given the specificity of the patent in this particular instance.

Tags: Patent, XML, OpenDocument Format, OpenDocument Format (ODF), RDF, Emerging Technologies, Internet, Michael Hickins

Michael Hickins is a professional writer and journalist with a passion for ferreting out the intersections between technology and culture.

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1

ErikSherman

08/13/09 | Report as spam

RE: ODF Not Implicated In i4i Suit

>> My colleague Erik Sherman, with the complicity of patent expert Dennis Crouch, tries to paint Google, Apple?s iTunes, HP and even SAP, all of whom make use of XML, into the same corner as Microsof as well. <<

That's not what I wrote, Michael. I said that, depending on how they implement, it potentially could be a problem - a far different statement. And Dennis Crouch was quite reserved in his language.

However, if i4i ultimately wins the case, it's not a stretch to imagine that it would start looking at some of these and other companies as well.
2

Michael Hickins

08/13/09 | Report as spam

RE: ODF Not Implicated In i4i Suit

Erik,
I didn't mean to suggest you were doing anything more than raising the possibility that these other companies were in line for a similar spanking.
I apologize if it came off as anything more.
3

ErikSherman

08/15/09 | Report as spam

RE: ODF Not Implicated In i4i Suit

No problem. The interesting issue here is that the question is, ironically, not simply one of technology, but what executives and their lawyers think they can and cannot cover with a patent. And if you think about the thousands of companies that regularly use XML in anything from processing documents to provide inter-software signaling, if they treat content and metadata separately, it might fall under this particular patent through something called the doctrine of equivalents, which can effectively extend the reach of a patent.
4

DHosk

08/17/09 | Report as spam

RE: ODF Not Implicated In i4i Suit

Has Adobe Systems avoided this issue by embedding the metadata into the file and enabling their applications to read the metadata?
"Adobe's Extensible Metadata Platform (XMP) is a labeling technology that allows you to embed data about a file, known as metadata, into the file itself. With XMP, desktop applications and back-end publishing systems gain a common method for capturing, sharing, and leveraging this valuable metadata ? opening the door for more efficient job processing, workflow automation, and rights management, among many other possibilities. With XMP, Adobe has taken the "heavy lifting" out of metadata integration, offering content creators an easy way to embed meaningful information about their projects and providing industry partners with standards-based building blocks to develop optimized workflow solutions" (http://www.adobe.com/products/xmp/)

What about Adobe's IDML?
"IDML (InDesign Markup Language) is an XML-based format, introduced in Adobe InDesign CS4, for representing InDesign content. IDML is used in several InDesign and InCopy file types:

IDML files (or packages) are ZIP archives, containing numerous XML files. The entire set of these files represent a complete InDesign <ocument. The files in an archive are described thoroughly in Adobe InDesign CS4 IDML File Format Specification. IDML files are identified by the *.idml file extension." (http://blogs.adobe.com/indesignsdk/2009/03/idml_file_types.html)