Alcatel-Lucent, Microsoft call truce on patent lawsuit war
updated 07:00 pm EST, Thu January 19, 2012
Ends legal battle waging for over four years
Microsoft and Alcatel-Lucent have ended hostilities in a long-standing patent infringement battle. Yesterday, the two companies jointly asked Judge Marilyn Huff, the federal judge presiding over the case in a US District Court, to grant a motion to end all claims in the matter. The case had been ongoing for over four years.
The case had its roots in a 2008 jury decision to award Alcatel-Lucent $358 million in damages for Microsoft's usage of patented technology for its Outlook, Money and Windows Mobile applications. In September, 2009, those damages were ruled excessive by the Judges of the US Federal Court of Appeals and overruled. That action did not overturn the verdict, only the amount of damages due Alcatel-Lucent. In July of last year, jurors in a San Diego federal court ruled that Microsoft had to pay Alcatel-Lucent $70 million in damages. That amount was reduced to $26.3 million by Judge Huff in November.
Neither party, each of whom agreed to bear their own legal costs, has indicated if a settlement had been reached, or if both parties just decided to end the costly legal conflict. [via Bloomberg]
