The US Justice Department has called for an expedited appeals process in the Microsoft antitrust case so that the US Supreme Court could directly examine the case, according to a government legal brief filed with the high court. In April, a US federal judge upheld Justice Department charges that Microsoft had abused the monopoly it enjoys in the operating systems market, thanks to its Windows platform, to harm competitors.

Then, on June 7th , he ordered that the company be split into two separate entities, one to develop personal computer operating systems and the other to specialise in software applications.

Microsoft wants to go through the normal appeals process.

The computer software giant is to present renewed arguments next week, according to legal procedures established at the end of June.