Microsoft gets $1.5b verdict tossed
US judge negates Alcatel-Lucent win in MP3 patent case
WASHINGTON -- Microsoft Corp., the world's largest software maker, persuaded a judge yesterday to throw out a jury's record $1.52 billion verdict in a landmark case over Alcatel-Lucent's MP3 digital-music patents.
US District Judge Rudi Brewster in San Diego said yesterday that the jury's damage award couldn't stand because one of the two patents wasn't infringed. The second disputed patent was co-owned by a German research institute and Microsoft might have had a valid license, Brewster said.
The jury decided in February that Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft must pay $1.52 billion for violating Paris-based Alcatel's rights to the inventions, the largest patent verdict in US history. The two sides argued in court in July over whether the verdict should stand.
Alcatel-Lucent, the world's largest maker of telecommunications equipment, argued the record damage award was fair and reasonable and ought to be increased because it only covered sales through November 2005.
"The reversal of the judge's own pre-trial and post-trial rulings is shocking and disturbing," Alcatel-Lucent spokeswoman Mary Ward said in a phone interview.
Alcatel-Lucent plans to appeal, Ward said.
Alcatel-Lucent shares fell 37 cents to $11.19 in Paris, after reaching a one-year low of $11.08.
Shares of Microsoft rose 58 cents to $29.54 in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. The stock rose as high as $29.80 in after-hours trading.
