A week after Microsoft was ordered to hand over $1.5 billion in an Alcatel-Lucent MP3 patent dispute, a federal judge has ruled that the Windows maker did not violate a patent at the heart of a second trial that was set to begin soon. The ruling from the bench by U.S. District Judge Rudi Brewster in San Diego late Thursday relates to an Alcatel-Lucent patent covering speech coding technology, the companies said. The judge dismissed all of Alcatel-Lucent's claims, which means a jury trial set to begin March 19 will not proceed, Microsoft spokesman Jack Evans said. Alcatel-Lucent plans to appeal the ruling and is "comfortable with our chances of success as the case makes its way through the legal system," spokeswoman Joan Campion said Friday. Microsoft deputy general counsel Tom Burt said the ruling "reaffirms our confidence that once there's judicial review of these complex patent cases, these Alcatel-Lucent claims ultimately won't stand up."

Posted by GEN-ERIC at 02:39:22 am into the following categories: In The News

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