Sun Microsystems, Inc., a Delaware Corporation v. Microsoft Corporation, a Washington Corporation

SCHROEDER, Circuit Judge:

Overview

This case illustrates how fast technology can outdistance the capacity of contract drafters to provide for the ramifications of a computer software licensing arrangement. The license in question runs from plaintiff-appellee Sun Microsystems to defendant-appellant Microsoft. It involves Java, a computer programming language Sun developed to enable the writing of programs that work on any computer operating system. The license agreement was negotiated on a rushed basis in 1996, and by 1997 both Microsoft and Sun had developed what they believed to be significant…