Dave Horvath
7 Aug 2007 17:02
A federal judge in San Diego, California today reversed a jury's decision which decided two patents held by Alcatel were infringed upon by Microsoft's Windows Media Player. Both of these patents deal with how audio is converted into MP3. Alcatel sued Microsoft claiming that the technology they used was stolen by Microsoft and used within Windows Media Player. Alcatel is stating that they will appeal the decision and Microsoft replied by saying the judge's reversal was a victory for consumers.
Mary Lou Ambrus of Alcatel-Lucent stated in response to the ruling, "This reversal of the judge's own pre-trial and post-trial rulings is shocking and disturbing." Judge Rudi Brewster said that Microsoft did not breach any patent laws because they had already paid a German company $16 billion to use one of the patents in question. The judge decided that since the German company didn't directly sue Microsoft, then no infringement was committed. Additionally, the judge was unable to justify the fine associated with the lawsuit. If Alcatel-Lucent would have been successful with its lawsuit, it would have been awarded upwards of $1.5 billion. The judge stated that should they file a new claim, he would not recognize that amount of money.
Source:
BBC