Diary Entry

Judge throws out $1.52 billion Alcatel-Lucent suit against Microsoft

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Last we heard, in February Alcatel-Lucent won a $1.52 billion suit against Microsoft for infringement of its MP3 patents despite the fact that Redmond paid up $16 million to MP3 co-developer the Fraunhofer Institute. Well, even given the 7-1 vote in favor of Alcatel-Lucent leading to the previous federal ruling, presiding US District Judge Rudi Brewster overturned the suit in a 43 page legal novella you absolutely must read, stating that one of the two patents wasn’t infringed, and the other patent’s infringement was in question anyway, due to the fact that Microsoft did, in fact, cough up those millions to Fraunhofer. Of course, Alcatel-Lucent intends to appeal the decision just the same way Microsoft’s previously appealed the original decision — and with $1.52 billion at stake, we all know damned well this is going to go back and forth for, well, as long as it takes. Who really wins? The layers, obviously.

[Thanks, David and Mark]

 

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