The facts:
Today I was reading on Twitter that Microsoft is banned from selling Word in the United States.  The reason was that the company i4i had a patent on custom XML.

 The judge accepted the fact that US Patent No 5.787.449 is legal and that Microsoft is violating this Patent.

 What is Patent 5.787.449:
This patent is filed on July 2, 1998 and will expire in 2015 to a company i4i based in Toronto.

The patent states “ Method and system for manipulating the architecture and the content of a document separately from each other”

 What is Custom XML?
Custom XML = XML ?  The X in Xml means already Custom, the X stands for Extendible
So when you can extend something you customize something.

 More explanation:
The patent explains the idea of separating data from the architecture of a document.  This is the whole idea of XML, so I can’t see why a company can have a patent on something which is approved by the WWW Consortium.

Xml nowadays became the standard of exchange data between different applications, server and much more.
IT without Xml, Custom Xml, Open Xml or whatever you call it is not possible anymore.

Why is i4i attacking Microsoft?
I4i has a product that called x4o, XML for office; personally I think it is a way to protect this product.  When you read the explanation, customers will be able to do the same in the future without the need of this products, or more evident, more companies will be entering this niche market.
But the question still remains, how come that a company can have a patent on a W3C standard?

Patent is to protect the inventor, but not to block the future!
If W3C accepted an eXtendible Markup Language (XML), the idea is to make more interoperability, new products, make more products working together.  One company should not be able to block it.

What Is a Patent?
A patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to the inventor, issued by the Patent and Trademark Office. The term of a new patent is 20 years from the date on which the application for the patent was filed in the United States or, in special cases, from the date an earlier related application was filed, subject to the payment of maintenance fees. US patent grants are effective only within the US, US territories, and US possessions.

The right conferred by the patent grant is, in the language of the statute and of the grant itself, “the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling” the invention in the United States or “importing” the invention into the United States. What is granted is not the right to make, use, offer for sale, sell or import, but the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling or importing the invention.

 The full injunction is below:
Microsoft Corporation is hereby permanently enjoined from performing the following actions with Microsoft Word 2003, Microsoft Word 2007, and Microsoft Word products not more than colorably different from Microsoft Word 2003 or Microsoft Word 2007 (collectively “Infringing and Future Word Products”) during the term of U.S. Patent No. 5,787,449:

.DOCX, or .DOCM file (“an XML file”) containing custom XML;

2. using any Infringing and Future Word Products to open an XML file
containing custom XML;

Infringing and Future Word Products that have the capability of opening a .XML,

3. instructing or encouraging anyone to use any Infringing and Future Word
Products to open an XML file containing custom XML;

1. selling, offering to sell, and/or importing in or into the United States any

4. providing support or assistance to anyone that describes how to use any infringing and Future Word Products to open an XML file containing custom XML;

and

Word Products to open an XML file containing custom XML.

This injunction does not apply to any of the above actions wherein the Infringing and Future Word Products open an XML file as plain text.

5. testing, demonstrating, or marketing the ability of the Infringing and Future