Microsoft told to pay Alcatel $1.5bn in MP3 patent spat

Microsoft is reviewing its legal options after a US court ordered it to pay Alcatel $1.5bn for infringing the French telecoms' company's MP3 technology in Windows.

Alcatel, which announced a partnership with Microsoft on IPTV in February 2005, inherited the San Diego court action through its $11.5bn merger with Lucent.

The original action pitted Lucent against Gateway and Dell over 15 patent claims, but saw Microsoft step in as it might be obliged to re-imburse the PC makers for damages they'd have to pay. The action has spawned related suits, with Alcatel last November prosecuting Microsoft in the Eastern District of Texas over video and voice technology used to decode video signals in Microsoft's Xbox 360.


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