WebProNews

The data-linking technology, which connects the spreadsheet program to Access databases and is used by hundreds of firms, may be the property of a Guatemalan inventor.

According to a Reuters report, Carlos Armando Amado said in a lawsuit that he filed for a patent in 1990 for software that links Microsoft's Excel program with its Access database application via a single spreadsheet. He unsuccessfully tried to sell it to Microsoft two years later.

Mr. Amado is seeking in excess of $500 million in damages in a suit filed in Central California's US District Court.

The suit claims that the software company began using the data-linking technology in Access 95 and through future versions of Access to 2002. Mr. Amado developed the link while a graduate student at Stanford.

Microsoft disputes the claims, saying it began working on the technology in 1989. This and 35 other patent suits are ongoing against the Redmond-based software company.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.