And the intellectual property rollercoaster continues. The BBC is reporting that Microsoft's appeal against a judgment granting $240 million in damages due to content in Word that infringed on patents held by i4i was today rejected, leaving the Redmond giant with a huge fine to pay atop its undoubtedly sky-high lawyer bills. In the latest ruling, the judges state their belief that Microsoft was explicitly aware of i4i's patents before implementing the relevant XML code into Word, which is about as damning as these things can get. Still, Microsoft might be able to appeal yet again, depending on a panel ruling on the matter, and if all else fails, this can be taken all the way to the Supreme
