“For my own interest, and for the record, I recently spent a little time pursuing my intuition that Lotus Notes R3 might be viable prior art relative to the patent in question. I am not an attorney, and I am surely not well versed in the nuances of the case, but it seems to me after initial investigation that there is indeed quite a bit of relevance.“

Ray Ozzie makes a persuasive arguement that Lotus Notes R3 is a good example of prior art that was shipping before the patent application. I get the feeling that a lot of people felt this case would disappear because of an abundance of prior art. I guess I am confused why Microsoft let this thing go to court.