Two legal blows stun Microsoft

MICROSOFT, the world’s biggest software company, was hit with a double legal blow today.

The company is being sued by Sendo, the British mobile phone maker and former Microsoft partner, which is alleging that the software giant stole trade secrets and attempted to force it out of business.

The move follows Sendo’s abrupt cancellation of an agreement with Microsoft last month when the UK company was just weeks away from launching a phone using the US group’s software.

A second hit came after a US judge ordered Microsoft to include Sun Microsystems’ Java programming language in its Windows software package.

Judge Frederick Motz issued the order to halt a competitive edge he decided Microsoft had gained by curbing Java’s distribution to protect its Windows monopoly.

Sendo alleges that Microsoft developed a "secret plan" to steal technical details about its phones and then to force it out of business by withholding payments, according to documents filed at Texarkana County Court in Texas.

They add that Sendo believes Microsoft passed its secrets to Taiwan’s High Technology Computer, which developed a rival handset called SPV. Sendo is understood to be seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.

Internet giant Yahoo! Inc. is to buy software maker Inktomi Corp for 235 million - a far cry from its early 2000 market value of 25 billion.