Embers from the fiery debate over the International Organisation for Standardisation's (ISO) acceptance of Microsoft's Office Open XML (OOXML) file format as an international standard refuse to die out in India.

SA, Venezuela, India and Brazil have successfully stalled the publication of Microsoft's Office Open XML (OOXML) format by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO).

Four countries have appealed a decision to fast-track the international standardisation of a Microsoft document format, called OpenXML.

Following up on the "IPR in ICT Standardisation" Workshop two weeks ago in Brussels, FSFE president Georg Greve analysed the conflicts between patents and standards. The resulting is paper about the most harmful effects of patents on standards, the effectiveness of current remedies, and potential future remedies.

The following six questions relate to the application of the ECMA/MS-OOXML format to be accepted as an IEC/ISO standard. Unless a national standardisation body has conclusive answers to all of them, it should vote no in IEC/ISO and request that Microsoft incorporate its work on MS-OOXML into ISO/IEC 26300:2006 (Open Document Format).

Brussels, 2 April 2008 — ISO members failed to disapprove the Open XML format. Microsoft has compromised the International Standards Organisation (ISO) during the rush to get a stamp for their Office OpenXML (OOXML), using unfair practices such as committee stuffing in several countries and political interventions of ministers in the standardization process.

Four national standards body members of ISO and IEC – Brazil, India, South Africa and Venezuela – have submitted appeals against the recent approval of ISO/IEC DIS 29500, Information technology – Office Open XML formats, as an ISO/IEC International Standard.

The Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII), said that it was putting up a 2,500 Euro prize in its fight against Microsoft's attempt to gain international standardisation for its Office format.

Analysis on balance - Standardisation and Patents - by Georg C. F. Greve, FSFE, President
This paper provides an analysis of the interaction of patents and standards and finishes with some concrete proposals to address the most pressing issues.