The file allocation table (FAT) File System makes it possible for an operating system to track the location and sequence of each piece of a file. Today, the FAT File System has become the ubiquitous format that is used for the interchange of media between computers. Since the advent of inexpensive, removable flash memory, the FAT File System has also become the format that is used between digital devices.

Patent

The FAT file system licensing program includes rights with regard to implementation of the Microsoft FAT file system specification under a number of U.S. patents that include the following:

U.S. Patent #5,579,517

U.S. Patent #5,758,352

U.S. Patent #6,286,013

Additionally, the FAT file system licensing package includes rights to FAT file system innovations for which Microsoft has filed a claim for a patent that the U.S. Patent Office has not yet granted. This licensing program also provides licensees with rights to the Microsoft FAT file system issued and pending patents outside the United States and to the Microsoft FAT file system specification and certain test specifications.