Court sides with Microsoft in Alcatel-Lucent case

From CNET News.com: A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court ruling that Microsoft need not pay damages to Alcatel-Lucent in a long-running patent dispute in a case that could have opened up a broad range of litigation over the MP3 music format.

The appeals court, in its ruling published Thursday, agreed with a lower court that Microsoft didn't infringe on one patent in question and that Alcatel-Lucent didn't have standing to sue over the other patent.

Microsoft was initially hit with a $1.5 billion verdict in the case. There was concern that had Alcatel-Lucent prevailed that a wide range of companies could have been impacted.

In a statement, Microsoft deputy general counsel Tom Burt said the ruling "is a victory for consumers of digital music and a triumph for common sense in the patent system."

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