Microsoft Corp. v. Webxchange, Inc.

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS

INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff Microsoft Corporation filed this declaratory action against defendant WebXchange, Inc., who now moves for dismissal under FRCP 12(b)(1). Because no case or controversy exists between the parties, the motion is Granted.

STATEMENT

This case is an effort to open a new front in a new district arising out of patent litigation already proceeding in another district. Microsoft publishes and licenses a software called Visual Studio, which allows users to create various programs and applications. Among these possible applications are “web service” applications that support interactions between computers over the internet. These web service applications include applications that allow real-time transactions on the internet using the Simple Object Access Protocol (“SOAP”). Microsoft encouraged developers to use Visual Studio to create these kinds of programs, and posted examples and suggestions on its website for this purpose as well as to market the abilities of its software (Compl. ¶ 18). These “case studies” included explanations of software applications created by Dell, Inc., FedEx Corporation, and Allstate Insurance…