BEIJING, Nov. 18 – U.S. software company Microsoft has been ordered by a Beijing court to stop the sale of all Windows programs found in violation of a Chinese company’s intellectual property rights.

The Beijing Number One Intermediate People’s Court ruled in favor of
Beijing-based software company, Zhongyi Electronic, saying that Microsoft’s use of its two Chinese fonts were not included in a license agreement. Microsoft said it believed its license agreements with the plaintiff covered its use of the fonts and would appeal against the decision, reports The Financial Times.

The court ruling will affect the sale of Microsoft’s PC operating systems in the country and will cover the Chinese language versions of the second edition of Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP.

Microsoft’s Windows XP is widely used in China but sales suffer from the easy availability of pirated copies. This had led the company to launch various campaigns to stop the flow of counterfeit products and lower the selling price of  Windows 7 to RMB699 yuan  or about US$103 when the same program is sold for US$199.99 in the United States.

Zhongyi Electronic claimed that Microsoft had continued using their font in the Chinese version of Windows 98 to Windows XP when the license agreement’s scope was only for Windows 95.

IPR violation is a major concern for foreign investors coming into the Chinese market. While the country has IPR laws in place, implementation is still weak and it is not hard to find fake dvds, electronics and software being sold on the street or even in malls.

The Beijing court decision comes at a time when U.S President Barack Obama is in Asia for his first presidential visit of the region. China has long been pressured to carry out stricter IPR enforcement as it remains one of the top economic issues for global trade in the country.