Alcatel-Lucent Awarded $1.5 Billion from Microsoft over MP3 Patents
Microsoft reportedly licensed the technology from Fraunhofer, a company that helped develop MP3 compression alongside Lucent's Bell Labs. Though details are scarce, Lucent apparently does not recognize Fraunhofer's (now Thomson) licensing as sufficient. The decision is of particular interest to other technology companies who have licensed MP3 technology from Fraunhofer. This includes hundreds of companies including Apple. This decision could put these companies at risk for future litigation and licensing fees.
"Therefore, today's outcome is disappointing for us and for the hundreds of other companies who have licensed MP3 technology," Burt said. "We are concerned that this decision opens the door for Alcatel-Lucent to pursue action against hundreds of other companies who purchased the rights to use MP3 technology from Fraunhofer, the industry-recognized rightful licensor."
PC World notes that this is the first of six patent lawsuits currently underway by Lucent. The remaining lawsuits directed at Microsoft cover speech pattern technology, user interface patents, Xbox 360 technology, and video technologies.
Microsoft, of course, has stated they "will seek relief from the trial court, and if necessary, appeal".
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(View all)A U.S. federal jury found that Microsoft Corp. infringed audio patents held by Alcatel-Lucent and should pay $1.52 billion in damages, Microsoft said on Thursday.
Microsoft said it plans to first ask the trial judge to knock down the ruling and will appeal if necessary. It said the verdict is unsupported by the law or the facts.
Alcatel-Lucent had accused the world's biggest software maker of infringing patents related to standards used for playing computer music, or MP3, files.
"We made strong arguments supporting our view and we are pleased with the court's decision," said Alcatel-Lucent spokeswoman Joan Campion, declining to discuss details of the decision.
:eek:
Ouch! That's going to hurt no matter how rich a company you are.
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