Microsoft-Nemesis David Boies Comes Gunning Again

Microsoft has to be wondering if it didn't just open up the gates of hell.

In May, Microsoft sued Salesforce.com for patent infringement, accusing it of violating nine patents it claimed to have invented. This stuff happens frequently in the technology world. But while patent infringement lawsuits are common, the circumstances surrounding this particular face-off are anything but.

Salesforce.com impresario Marc Benioff, whose company has now filed a counter-suit against Microsoft, has corralled one of the best litigators in the business, for the fight. In addition to his starring role in many of the storied legal disputes of recent times, such as the fight over the 2000 presidential election recount, Boies earlier earned wide public attention when he argued the U.S. Department of Justice antitrust case against Microsoft.

Over the course of weeks and months, a procession of capable and seasoned top Microsoft executives left the witness stand with their testimonies torn to shreds. Even worse, Boies made it look too easy, hardly referring to his notes as he verbally beat up one Microsoft witness after another.