Microsoft to study EU court ruling

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp said on Monday that it would study a European ruling calling for it to stop behaving in a way that hurts competition, and it would take additional steps if needed in order to comply with the decision.

Microsoft suffered a big defeat on Monday when the Court of First Instance backed a European Commission ruling from 2004 that the U.S. software giant illegally abused its market power to crush competitors.

"We look forward to continued efforts to implement and comply with today's decision, we welcome the opportunity for continued discussion to adhere to our duties with the European Commission, and we look forward to hopefully continuing to move technology forward to create more jobs on this continent," Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith said in a statement.