Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has sued one of its rivals in the cloud-computing arena for allegedly infringing nine of its patents. Filed in the U.S. District Court in Seattle, the suit against Salesforce.com seeks both monetary compensation as well as an injunction against the use of related technologies in Salesforce.com's CRM product.

Given Microsoft's track record, no one is accusing the software giant of creating a frivolous lawsuit. The predominant thinking though, is that this is more than just a patent lawsuit. This is about Microsoft drawing on its resources to weaken the confidence in one of its larger foes in the SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) market. Indeed, the share price of Salesforce.com dipped following the news of the suit.

Will Salesforce.com choose to be drawn into a protracted legal battle? That is hard to say at this point. Though in the past, Microsoft has been willing to settle for an amicable licensing agreement.

For more on this story:
- check out the article at Redmond Channel Partner
- check out the article at PCWorld 

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