A judge in Texas has ruled in the patent dispute between Microsoft and i4i Inc over the XML file technology built into Word. The ruling has effectively banned Microsoft from selling Word in the US with 60 days to comply. This directly effects Microsoft’s Office suite which is one of the companies biggest earners and therefore an agreement is likely to come before the ban is enforced, especially as i4i relies on the Microsoft Office ecosystem to make it’s money. What it does mean, however, is that Microsoft is likely to have to write a big, fat cheque to i4i before an agreement is met. Ouch, I can already hear the bean counters sobs.

[Via Seattle PI via Mashable]