GENEVA -- Brazil and India have appealed a decision to make Microsoft's Office Open XML format an internationally recognized standard for electronic documents.

The International Electrotechnical Commission said Friday that three countries have now formally protested last month's approval of the standard.

South Africa complained last week that the balloting procedure conducted by the Geneva-based IEC and global standards body ISO was poorly conducted and rushed.

Microsoft wants the file format used in its Office 2007 program to be approved as an open standard so that it can apply for lucrative government contracts that require this designation.