Microsoft Word Banned?

"Microsoft Word prohibited as of Jan. 11, fix promised." December 22, 2009.

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/158160

I saw this on the Yahoo webpage and thought it was interesting. Apparently Microsoft was sued by a Canadian company because the formatting of Word was too similar. Microsoft is now being forced to stop selling Word and Office after January 11th.

Apparently they are promising some sort of fix to it, but I wonder how long it will take. I'm not too worried, as I already have Word, but I suppose it could pose a problem to some people.

What are your thoughts?

I haven't read the article, but from the sounds of it, it seems that the reporter has some misconceptions.

Microsoft was found to be in breach of a patent made by a Canadian company. As a result, all versions of Word sold after January 11 have to be in compliance with the court decision. Microsoft will be able to easily comply, so you'll still be able to buy Word on January 12.

It also does not affect any versions of Word people have already bought. So if you have Word, no worries.