Microsoft Corp. said that the record antitrust fine levied against it in 2004 should be thrown out, or at least greatly reduced, because the punishment outweighed the infraction, the company’s lawyers said today.

Microsoft said the record antitrust fine levied against it in 2004 should be tossed out, or at least greatly reduced, because the punishment outweighed the infraction, the company’s lawyers said in Luxembourg today.

Microsoft Corp. today complained that the European Commission had forced it to hand over trade secrets to rivals, effectively giving them a “free ride” on the work the software maker did to acquire new customers and develop new technologies.

The European Commission’s order for Microsoft to share its code with rivals so that their software can run smoothly with Windows takes central stage today in the third day of the company’s bid to have its record fine and antitrust ruling overturned.