A lawsuit filed against Microsoft alleges that software used by Office to transfer information between its spreadsheet products Excel and Access was in fact was stolen from a Guatemalan inventor. Carlos Armando Amado claims that in 1992 he tried to sell his technology to Microsoft, which he had patented in 1990. Amado alleges that the technology, which works by letting users move data between Excel to Access via a spreadsheet, was used by Microsoft in Office releases between 1995 and 2002. Microsoft, however, claim that they started work on the technology in 1989.
The suit does not claim specific damages but lawyers told Reuters they would be asking for about $2 for every copy of the software sold, which equates to $500m. The case is being heard in the US District Court of Central California.