SEATTLE (Reuters) - A U.S. judge upheld a jury's ruling for $368 million in damages against Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) for violating patents held by Alcatel-Lucent (ALUA.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).
U.S. District Judge Marilyn Huff said in a Thursday ruling that
Microsoft owes Alcatel-Lucent a total of $512 million, which includes
interest on the original award.
After a jury ruled for Alcatel-Lucent in April, Microsoft sought to
have the ruling overturned. Last year, Microsoft was successful in
having thrown out a separate $1.5 billion damages ruling over audio
technology patents claimed by Alcatel.
"We had always believed we had a strong case and are pleased that
the judge agreed that the jury's thoughtful verdict was well reasoned
and supported by the evidence," Alcatel-Lucent spokeswoman Mary Ward
said in a statement.
A Microsoft spokesman said the company said it plans to appeal the
decision and is confident that the damages award will not be sustained
on appeal.
The software maker joined Dell and Gateway to fight the suit over
technology used in Microsoft software licensed by those computer
manufacturers. Microsoft and Alcatel-Lucent are locked in several
patent disputes, including a suit over video-decoding technology in
Microsoft's Xbox game console.
Microsoft said the two patents it was found to have infringed upon
related to technology that allows users to enter dates into calendars
and another used in tablet computers to recognize patterns in
handwriting.
(Reporting by Daisuke Wakabayashi; editing by Carol Bishopric)
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