Microsoft, Alcatel-Lucent settle most patent suits
Seattle PI | at | by Mike
Microsoft and Alcatel-Lucent SA have settled most of their patent litigation, officials of the two companies said.
Financial terms weren't disclosed. The agreement covers six lawsuits, including one that resulted in the largest patent verdict in U.S. history before it was thrown out by a judge. Microsoft will continue its appeal of a $368 million verdict it lost that swelled to $511.6 million in June, the companies said.
The companies have been fighting since 2002, when Lucent, then a standalone concern, began demanding royalties from Microsoft customers Gateway Inc. and Dell Inc. over features in the Microsoft Windows operating system. A federal jury in San Diego in one case awarded Alcatel $1.52 billion -- the largest patent verdict ever -- over digital music technology.