News and Information Java Lawsuit Information Center

The legal action brought by Sun regarding Microsoft's Java agreement has made Java front-page news. To help keep you fully informed, we have created a special section devoted to news and background information concerning the Sun lawsuit and Microsoft's response. Comments about the lawsuit? Send us e-mail.

Federal District Court Rules in Java Lawsuit
January 25, 2000 - The Federal District Court in San Jose issued two orders in the Sun Microsystems vs. Microsoft lawsuit. The first order rejected Sun's motion to reinstate the order based on Federal copyright law. The court agreed that this case is a contract dispute, rejecting Sun's argument that the focus should be on copyright not the contract. The second order partially reinstated an earlier injunction requiring Microsoft to support Sun's JNI interface, and how Microsoft handles and refers to language extensions. Microsoft is already in compliance with the order.

Appeals court suspends Java ruling
August 23, 1999 - The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated the District Court's preliminary injunction issued in November 1998 related to Sun Microsystems' copyright infringement claims and unfair competition claims. For more details, read the complete opinion on the United States Court for the Ninth Circuit Web site.

Microsoft files appeal in Sun lawsuit
January 14, 1999 - Arguing that the court erred in its interpretation of Microsoft's contract with Sun, Microsoft filed an appeal of the preliminary injunction issued by the Federal District Court on November 18, 1998. The appeal was filed with the U.S. Appeals Court in San Francisco. For more details, read the complete press release on the Microsoft^® PressPass Web site.

Microsoft to appeal preliminary injunction
December 16, 1998 - Noting that its industry-leading Java implementation meets the terms of the licensing agreement with Sun, Microsoft announced today that it will appeal the November 17 preliminary ruling in the Sun lawsuit. Microsoft has 28 days to file an appeal brief; the company will continue to comply with the preliminary injunction while waiting for the appeal to be heard. For more details, read the complete press release on the Microsoft PressPass Web site.

Microsoft Releases Latest Version of Virtual Machine for Windows
December 7, 1998 - A new version of Microsoft's acclaimed virtual machine has just been released and is now available free of charge. Building on the technology that earned it the PC Magazine Editor's Choice for two years in a row, this new release extends Microsoft's performance leadership with even greater speed and new features for developers. It also offers support for Java Native Interface (JNI), in addition to the tight integration with Windows that customers and developers expect. For more details, read the complete press release on the Microsoft PressPass Web site.

Notice regarding Java lawsuit ruling
November 25, 1998 - In a notice to customers, Microsoft announced that a revised version of the Microsoft virtual machine and a modified version of Visual J++^® 6.0 will be made available within 90 days of the November 17 preliminary ruling in the Sun lawsuit. Visit the Microsoft Visual J++ Web site to read the complete notice.

"No impact," Microsoft tells Windows customers
November 20, 1998 - Microsoft assured customers and partners around the world that the preliminary ruling in the Sun lawsuit would not interfere with Microsoft's ability to deliver Windows 98 and other products. In letters to OEMs, resellers, distributors, enterprise customers, developers, and end users, Microsoft explained that modified versions of its products would be available in compliance with the order, while products currently in the channel would be unaffected. A press release has more information.

A letter to consumers from Paul Maritz
November 19, 1998 - In a letter to customers, Microsoft vice president Paul Maritz explains that the November 17 preliminary ruling will not impact users of Windows 98, nor will it hurt Microsoft's ability to to ship Windows 98 or any other product. In addition, he says that users of Microsoft Windows products will continue to enjoy the benefits of the fastest, most reliable Java implementation on the market. You can read his letter in the Microsoft PressPass Web site.

Preliminary ruling Q&A
November 18, 1998 - What does the preliminary ruling mean for Microsoft's industry-leading Java implementation and the customers who use it? This Q&A provides a succinct overview, explaining the impact of the ruling on Windows customers, Visual J++^® developers, users of Visual Studio, and more. You'll find this useful document in the Visual J++ Web site.

Lawsuit document center
November 18, 1998 - Microsoft PressPass, the Web site for news and information about Microsoft, has created a page that provides links to a wide range of important documents in the Sun lawsuit, including a few not listed here. You'll find the complete declarations to the court from Microsoft vice president Bob Muglia and Microsoft program managers Russ Arun, and Charles Fitzgerald, the response Microsoft filed in response to Sun's motion for a preliminary ruling, and more.

Microsoft agrees to meet conditions of preliminary ruling
November 17, 1998 - Microsoft said it would take all necessary steps to comply with the preliminary ruling handed down by Federal District Court Judge Ronald H. Whyte. The ruling gives Microsoft 90 days to begin supporting Sun's Java Native Interface (JNI) in the Microsoft Java virtual machine, and to turn off by default certain Microsoft-specific keywords in its development tools. Microsoft officials expressed disappointment at the ruling, while pointing out that customers already using Microsoft products with Java programming language support will not be affected.

Paul Maritz responds to Scott McNealy
October 21, 1998 - In early October the Wall Street Journal ran a letter from Sun CEO Scott McNealy that contained a number of misrepresentations. Microsoft Group Vice President Paul Maritz responded with an abridged letter in the Journal on October 21. In his letter he explained why Sun's lawsuit is an attempt to limit developer choice and prevent Microsoft from delivering the best Java implementation to its customers.

Microsoft defends best implementation of Java in the industry; Sun motion is without merit
May 12, 1998 - Calling Sun Microsystem's request for a preliminary injunction against the Microsoft Windows 98 operating system without merit, Microsoft reaffirmed its commitment to providing the best Java implementation in the industry. "There is no legal or factual basis for granting Sun's request," said Tom Burt, associate general counsel for Microsoft. "If the preliminary injunction is granted the harm would be to consumers and software developers who will be denied use of the best tools in the industry to create and run Java applications."

Microsoft to comply with preliminary court order on use of [Java compatible] logo
March 24, 1998 - Microsoft has announced that it would comply with the temporary restraining order issued by Federal District Court Judge Ronald H. Whyte. The order requires Microsoft to remove the Java Compatible Logo from any packaging and Web sites related to Microsoft Internet Explorer and the Microsoft SDK for Java. The order does not, however, require any changes to the actual technologies which Microsoft ships. In a press release, Microsoft associate general counsel Tom Burt expressed disappointment at the ruling but added, "we remain confident that once all the facts are presented in the larger case, the court will find Microsoft to be in full compliance with its contract with Sun."

Microsoft countersues Sun Microsystems; refutes Sun's claims and sues for breach of contract and bad faith
October 27, 1997 - Microsoft's response to Sun's accusations include a countersuit filed on October 27 charging Sun with breach of contract and failing to live up to its obligations to Microsoft under the original agreement of March 11, 1996.

Q&A on Microsoft's response to Sun's claims and the countersuit
October 27, 1997 - This set of questions and answers lays out in clear language Microsoft's response to Sun's suit and the details of our countersuit.

Microsoft response to the Sun lawsuit; full text of the document submitted to U.S. District Court by Microsoft Corporation on October 27, 1997
October 27, 1997 - If you are interested in the legal details, you can read the complete document that we filed with the court.

Q&A explaining terms of the contract
October 15, 1997 - To help you wade through the subtleties of Microsoft's Java licensing agreement, we've assembled a Q&A document.

Read the contract
October 15, 1997 - The agreement that gave Microsoft rights to license Java from Sun was signed on March 11, 1996. Here's the full text of that agreement.

A letter to our customers regarding the Sun lawsuit
October 9, 1997 - Microsoft vice president Brad Chase explains why Sun's legal action will have no impact on their use of Internet Explorer 4.0.

Frequently asked questions regarding the Sun lawsuit
October 9, 1997 - This set of frequently asked questions provides important background information on Microsoft's Java implementation.