Microsoft Judge Sets March 4 for Hearing

The judge in the Microsoft Corp. antitrust trial formally set the case to proceed early next year for the nine states that rejected a settlement with the software giant and the Justice Department.

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly set the next courtroom hearing for March 4 in that stage of the case.

Those states must decide what sanctions the judge should impose on Microsoft, which earlier was found to have violated federal competition laws.

Kollar-Kotelly’s scheduling order was widely expected and contained no surprises. She outlined her intent during courtroom hearings last week.

For the Justice Department and the nine other states that agreed to the settlement announced last week, the judge ordered government lawyers to give her a copy of the deal with Microsoft before Thursday, along with a study analyzing the impact of the agreement on the technology industry.

Shares of Microsoft rose 79 cents to $65.21 on Nasdaq.