Microsoft is going to be out some serious cash after the case against them over patent infringement is finally settled. Canadian company i4i, sued Microsoft over the Office Open XML file format found in Microsoft Office because it infringed on one of their patents.

This past Tuesday, Microsoft filed an injunction to delay the $290 it owes i4i over damages and asked to put a halt to a court order that asked Microsoft to stop selling Word within 60 days. Microsoft says if they’re not allowed to sell Word, then they won’t be able to sell the Microsoft Office software which would harm the company beyond repair.

“Microsoft and its distributors face the imminent possibility of a massive disruption in their sales. If left undisturbed, the district court’s injunction will inflict irreparable harm on Microsoft by potentially keeping the centerpiece of its product line out of the market for months. The injunction would block not only the distribution of Word, but also of the entire Office suite, which contains Word and other popular programs,”

The court injunction filed by Microsoft also says that they can fix the XML issue but the costs would tremendous. The idea that Microsoft would actually go ahead and stop selling their Office products is far fetched but they’re pushed to a corner and no matter how they respond, they’ll be losing a lot of money in this case.

(Via Maximumpc)