Mobile e-mail startup Visto has sued Microsoft for allegedly infringing on three of its patents related to how information is handled between servers and handheld devices.

Visto asserts that Microsoft's Windows Mobile 5.0 is a blatant infringement on Visto's patented technology. Its concerns about this market are heightened by Microsoft's recent decision to bundle Windows Mobile 5.0 with their already market-dominating Exchange server software. This method of bundling software has led Microsoft to be prosecuted by competition authorities in the past, and in this case, potentially increases the rate and manner in which their infringement on Visto's patents occurs.

"Microsoft has a long and well-documented history of acquiring the technology of others, branding it as their own, and entering new markets," said Mr. Bogosian, Visto's Chairman, CEO and President. "In some cases, they buy that technology from its creator. In other cases, they wrongfully misappropriate the intellectual property that belongs to others, which has forced them to acknowledge and settle large IP cases with companies like Sun, AT&T and Burst.com. For their foray into mobile email and data access, Microsoft simply decided to misappropriate Visto's well known and documented patented technology."

"With the recent explosion in smart phone technology and demand for mobile email access, the market has caught up with Visto's original vision," said Mr. Mendez. "We worked many long nights over many years and invested heavily to develop and patent our technology at a time when many people thought we were working on future fantasies. Now, when the market potential is obvious to everyone, other companies want to misappropriate the technologies that we invented and to benefit, for free, from our hard work and innovation."

"Innovative companies have been pummeled out of existence or into minor players after Microsoft decided to enter their markets," Bogosian added. "Netscape and RealNetworks are among the best known examples. Courts around the world have ruled time after time against Microsoft, saying that it has acted either inappropriately or in violation of the law, especially concerning how they have treated competing companies. We will not let that happen to Visto."

Visto's lawsuit specifically alleges that Microsoft has infringed on three patents relating to its mobile access to email and data technology:

- U.S. Patent No. 6,085,192 titled, "System And Method For Securely Synchronizing Multiple Copies Of A Workspace Element In A Network"

- U.S. Patent No. 6,708,221 titled, "System And Method For Globally And Securely Accessing Unified Information In A Computer Network"

- U.S. Patent No. 6,151,606 titled, "System And Method For Using A Workspace Data Manager To Access, Manipulate And Synchronize Network Data"

The complaint seeks a permanent injunction that would prohibit Microsoft from continuing to misappropriate Visto's intellectual property. The company also seeks monetary damages as compensation for Microsoft's illegal actions.

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