Microsoft should be able to extricate itself from the implications of the new GPLv3, according to a leading Australian Intellectual Property lawyer.

Kay Lam-Beattie, principal with intellectual property lawyers Idealaw, said that based on the limited information available to the public, the open-source movement's efforts to hinder Microsoft's bullying over patents are likely to be fruitless.

In recent times, Microsoft has struck legal agreements with Linux distributors Novell, Xandros and Linspire, pledging not to sue users of these distributions over alleged patent violations.

These partnerships, in some cases, restrict the freedoms normally associated with the use and distribution of open source software.

In this case, she said, Microsoft never acted -- never "entered" into the agreement, and the terms and conditions can only apply to new actions by Microsoft, not older ones. "Their actions so far are not enough to say that they are bound," she said.

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