Microsoft has reached a settlement in a patent-infringement lawsuit filed last year by Vertical Computer Systems, according to a filing by the mediator in the case: PDF, 1 page. The Fort Worth, Texas, company's complaint alleged that Microsoft's .Net development system violated a patent issued to Vertical in November 2004.
Here is a good new video that demonstrates how patent trolls and their little extortions come about. ⬆
In short, it's not too clear what Microsoft has just done except dumping GitHub - i.e. mostly a Web site that loses a ton of money (it always lost money) - into some mysterious new bucket
