Microsoft ordered to pay Alcatel-Lucent 367 mln dollars 07/04/2008 00:00

Jury on Friday ordered Microsoft to pay Alcatel-Lucent 367.4 million dollars.

   SAN FRANCISCO, April 7, 2008 - A jury on Friday ordered Microsoft to pay Alcatel-Lucent 367.4 million dollars as the French-US telecom equipment
maker scored a partial victory in complex patent infringement litigation.
   In what Microsoft depicted as a major win for its camp, the jury concluded
the US software giant did not infringe on all four patents at issue in the
trial and denied Lucent the 1.75 billion dollars in damages it sought.
   "We appreciate the jury's hard work during this lengthy and complex trial,"
said Microsoft general counsel Tom Burt.
   "We are gratified that the jury found Microsoft did not infringe on
Alcatel-Lucent's video decoding patent, and that the patent is invalid."
   The trial focused on the last four patents in a 15-patent suit Lucent filed
in 2003 against computer makers Dell and Gateway for allegedly selling
machines with Microsoft software that used Lucent technology without
permission.
   Microsoft weighed into the case to protect its partnerships with computer
makers and to stop the litigation from being broadened to other companies
using Microsoft software.
   The trial that ended Friday involved technology used for playing DVDs in
Windows, along with Microsoft Outlook, Money, and Windows Mobile programs.

AFP