1.   Along with those arguments, Brad Smith, deputy general counsel for Microsoft, has extensively researched previous antitrust cases and said none of them offered a clear parallel.

2.   Although they indicated they are open to a settlement of the antitrust case, they said the company will budge only so far in talks with the government.

3.   An antitrust case might be harder for the government to win because the Justice Department would have to show that Microsoft was harming competition through its marketing strategy.

4.   An FTC administrative law judge will hear the underlying antitrust case in Washington in March.

5.   Among other complaints, the Microsoft file says the states lack the legal standing to bring an antitrust case.

6.   And he is trying to do so while shaking off the bitter antitrust case, which is now before a federal appeals court.

7.   And Microsoft was at least considering a sophisticated PR effort tied to the antitrust case, until the details were leaked last month to The Los Angeles Times.

8.   And they also could spur the Department of Justice to expand its antitrust case against the Redmond, Wash., company.

9.   And the federal antitrust case focuses largely on how Microsoft allegedly used the market power from its Windows monopoly to try to stifle the challenge from Internet software.

10.   And putting the GE case aside, the division has managed to avoid getting bogged down in big antitrust cases, as other administrations have, scholars agree.