This post was published 5 years 1 month 17 days ago and its content may not be valid anymore.

In a preliminary ruling, the government rejected Microsoft Corp.’s 1996 patent on technology for saving files on computers using easy-to-remember names.

Microsoft vowed Thursday to appeal the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s decision, setting the stage for what could be long-running negotiations. The office could eventually decide to reject it outright, let it stand or change its scope.

The patent covers technology widely used on computers running Microsoft’s Windows operating system. In more recent years, it has also been used for naming files from devices that work with Windows, like digital cameras and portable music players.

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(Note: I decided to give this article a complex hard-to-remember name to prevent Microsoft’s lawyers from suing)