Has Microsoft ever sued a startup for patent infringement, except as a 
counter-suit when the startup sued them?

there was the "Lindows.com" suit, where Microsoft attempted to sue, but lost.  

But Lindows wasn't exactly a startup -- thought @ the time they had
just started to gain popularity.

I haven't seen anything substantial w/ Microsoft and a start-up.

An example of this might be that Microsoft recently entered into suits
w/ individuals attempting to sell pirated microsoft software over
ebay.  If this could be considered a business, it might meet the
criteria.

Finally, 


================================================================================
Bloomberg News
Dec 15, 2005 10:02:20
Microsoft Sues Companies and People for Pirating, Reselling


By Thom Weidlich

Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp. filed lawsuits against three
companies, accusing them of pirating software, and nine individuals,
accusing them of selling software not meant for resale, Microsoft said
in a statement distributed by PR Newswire.

....

Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, said it took the actions to
protect its partners and consumers from those illegally selling real
and counterfeit Microsoft software.

``Our partners are negatively affected by the activities of those who
compete unfairly by either selling illegal software and components or
abusing agreements that other partners abide by,'' John Ball, general
manager for Microsoft's U.S. System Builders Partner Group, which
works with businesses that make computers, said in the statement.

The companies sued are Auction Hut of Toledo, Ohio; Comp- Discounts
Software of Boca Raton, Florida; and Computer Techs of Grove City,
Pennsylvania. Eight suits were filed against nine individuals from
California, Maryland, New York, Texas and Virginia. All the suits were
in federal court.

Two of the cases are Microsoft Corp. v. Auction Hut LLC, 3:05-CV-7467,
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio (Toledo) and Microsoft
Corp. v. Huh, 2:05-cv-01927-MJP, U.S. District Court, Western District
of Washington (Seattle).

--Editor: Carter.



BLOOMBERG NEWS
2005-04-18 21:29:08
Microsoft Sues Forgent Over JPEG Digital Picture Standard
By Karen Gullo

April 18 (Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp., the world's largest software
company, sued Forgent Networks Inc., seeking to invalidate a patent
for the JPEG standard of digital-image processing.
================================================================================
In a lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco, Microsoft said
the Joint Photographic Experts Group, or JPEG, standard was developed
by the international standards community and accused Forgent and its
Compression Labs Inc. unit of claiming that a patent it holds covers
technology embodied in the JPEG standard.

Austin, Texas-based Forgent has filed patent infringement suits
against over 30 companies, the complaint says. International Business
Machines Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. and 20 other companies sued
Forgent last year seeking to have the company's patent invalided.

``CLI/Forgent has been and is attempting unlawfully to subvert the
JPEG Standard and to extract millions of dollars in unwarranted
profits based on consumers' long reliance on the JPEG Standard though
their purchase of JPEG-enabled products,'' the Microsoft complaint
says.

Michael Noonan, spokesman at Forgent, didn't return a message left after hours.

Microsoft is seeking a court ruling that Forgent's patent is
unenforceable and that it has an implied license to the patent.
Microsoft products include the JPEG standard, which allows users to
download, store and share photographs, documents and graphics.

Editor: Siler.

================================================================================

oops.. when i said "An example" of this... i meant an "exception of this..."

here is an article published in 2001 that, outdated, but some usefule
point + time horizon insight....


BUS 01/10 IBM Tops U.S. Patent List for Eighth Consecutive Year                 
                                                                                
                                                                                
    Business Editors                                                            
                                                                                
   ARMONK, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 10, 2001--For the eighth                 
consecutive year, IBM was awarded the most U.S. patents in 2000, with           
a record 2,886 issued by the United States Patent and Trademark                 
Office.                                                                         
   IBM topped the next closest company by more than 850 patents. In             
fact, IBM's number surpassed the combined total of patents awarded              
eight of its largest competitors -- Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Sun,                
Microsoft, Cisco, Dell, Oracle and EMC.                                         
   The results were reported today by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services,               
which compiles the CLAIMS(c) patent database and annually reports the           
number of U.S. patents issued to companies.                                     
   "In an industry driven by innovation, patent leadership                      
demonstrates a commitment to developing technologies that benefit our           
customers and fuel IBM's growth," said Nicholas M. Donofrio, senior             
vice president, Corporate Technology and Manufacturing. "The                    
creativity of our technical teams is helping push the industry in new           
directions that are determining the next steps in e-business."                  
   Technology breakthroughs were patented in critical areas of IBM's            
business during 2000 with nearly 1,000 patents awarded for software,            
about 1,000 for microelectronics and 400 for storage technologies.              
   IBM's patent leadership is a direct result of the company's                  
continued investment in research and development, with focus on                 
innovative technologies and bringing those technologies to market               
quickly. According to Donofrio, one third of the technologies IBM               
patented in 2000 are already in the marketplace and many more will              
reach market in 2001. Further, IBM's total intellectual property                
portfolio again generated more than $1 billion in licensing royalties           
in 2000.                                                                        
   IBM holds nearly 34,000 patents worldwide, including about 19,000            
in the U.S. In addition, the company is one of the largest                      
non-European patent holders in Europe and one of the largest                    
non-Japanese patent holders in Japan.                                           
                                                                                
                  2000 Patents -- Selected Highlights                           
                                                                                
   Covering all aspects of e-business, IBM maintains the broadest               
range of patented technologies in the information technology industry,          
including networking, computer systems, large servers, semiconductors,          
microprocessors, memory chips, storage and software applications.               
                                                                                
   Among the U.S. Patents issued for IBM inventions in 2000:                    
                                                                                
IBM advances holograms for information storage                                  
                                                                                
   In holographic data storage, entire pages of data are committed to           
and read from a photosensitive material by a laser. Each page consists          
                                                                                
-----------------------------====================------------------------------ 
                              Copyright (c) 2006                               

                                                                Page 2  of 3    
                                                                                
of an array of "bright" and "dark" pixels, resembling a checkerboard.           
This invention improves the contrast between the bright and dark                
pixels by subtracting unwanted electronic signal from the dark pixels           
as each hologram is recorded. By making the dark pixels darker, errors          
are reduced and capacity can be increased. (Patent US6031643: Method            
for holographic storage)                                                        
                                                                                
Taking speech recognition to the next level                                     
                                                                                
   A speech recognition system will be able to identify who is                  
speaking by voiceprint characteristic regardless of what the person is          
saying, and then perform a command specific to that person. For                 
example, a woman who shares an office can say, "Call my husband," and           
the system will dial the correct number for her spouse. (Patent                 
US6073101: Text-independent speaker recognition for transparent                 
command ambiguity resolution and continuous access control)                     
                                                                                
"Time sharing" computers over the Internet                                      
                                                                                
   This invention covers a method for using idle computers connected            
via the Internet to work on computationally intensive projects, such            
as weather forecasting or rendering sophisticated computer graphics.            
(Patent US6112225: Task distribution processing system and the method           
for subscribing computers to perform tasks during idle time)                    
                                                                                
Sensory experience enhanced by an IBM invention                                 
                                                                                
   At present computing involves two senses -- sight and hearing.               
Down the road, users will be able to add a third sensory dimension to           
their computing experience -- smell. This invention will allow                  
computer users to actually smell scents associated with video signals           
received over the internet. Responding to signals, smells from a                
pallet of scents will emit from a scent emulator hooked up to the               
computer. (Patent US6024783: Aroma sensory stimulation in multimedia)           
                                                                                
IBM drives miniaturization of wireless devices                                  
                                                                                
   High-speed circuits used in wireless communications applications             
require passive components such as inductors and transformers. Two IBM          
inventions describe compact, high-quality inductors and transformers            
that can be integrated into silicon chips without consuming excess              
chip area, which can lead to enhanced miniaturization. These                    
components also can operate at high frequencies, which extends the use          
of circuits in many applications such as cell phones and personal               
digital assistants. (Patent US6114937: Integrated circuit spiral                
inductor and Patent US6054329: Method for forming an integrated                 
circuit spiral inductor with ferromagnetic liner)                               
                                                                                
                               About IBM                                        
                                                                                
                                                                                
-----------------------------====================------------------------------ 
                              Copyright (c) 2006                               

                                                                Page 3  of 3    
                                                                                
   IBM is the world's largest information technology company, with 80           
years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. IBM creates,                
develops and manufactures the industry's most advanced information              
technologies, including computer systems, software, networking                  
systems, storage devices and microelectronics. In December 2000, IBM            
received the National Medal of Technology -- which recognizes lasting           
contributions to America's competitiveness and standard of living --            
for leadership in developing and commercializing data storage                   
technology. The fastest way to get more information about IBM is                
through the IBM home page, at www.ibm.com.                                      
                                                                                
    --30--muj/ny*                                                               
                                                                                
    CONTACT: IBM                                                                
             Catherine Kovach, 914/499-6609                                     
             kovach@us.ibm.com                                                  
             or                                                                 
             IFI CLAIMS Patent Services                                         
             Jim Brown, 800/331-4955                                            
             info@ificlaims.com                                                 
                                                                                
    KEYWORD: NEW YORK                                                           
    INDUSTRY KEYWORD: COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS HARDWARE                            
                                                                                
Today's News On The Net - Business Wire's full file on the Internet             
                          with Hyperlinks to your home page.                    
                          URL: http://www.businesswire.com                      
                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
-0- (BUS) Jan/10/2001 11:30 GMT

It is sorta funny to think that is the leader in holding patents, but
rarely enters into suits against companies w/regard to enforcing its
patents.... why so?

<A> searches, predominately lead you to suits against Microsoft.  Not
the other way around.  For this reason, the patents are to protect it
from such suits, since: Cash + Enormous Market share = everybody hates
you.  For this reason, microsoft doesn't get patents to sue, it gets
patents because, a lot of the times, it is getting sued.

If it's any help, Lindows is referred to as a "startup" in numerous articles:

://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=microsoft+%22startup+lindows%22