Linux Vendor Settles With Microsoft (InformationWeek)

Software patents are not invalid in the rest of the world. There are many fewer than in the US, and business process patents usually are invalid, but sadly most places have software patents - very few jurisdicions declared the MS FAT patents invalid for example, and I believe a variant is granted in most significant markets. New Zealnd was one of the few that refused it IIRC.

People keep quoting that 'europe does not have swpats' on this site, and it's just not true. We managed to stop having them explicitly legalised, but many, many are still granted every year. You pretty-much just have to say 'some software running on a computer' and thus claim it as a 'machine'. It makes litte practical difference, and what limits there are are being steadily eroded.