Judge Upholds Alcatel Win Over Microsoft

The multi-lawsuit battle between Alcatel and Microsoft continues…and, lately, the fight continues to be a pitched battle for Microsoft. U.S. District Judge Marylin Huff upheld a jury verdict that awarded $368 million in damages to Alcatel…and with interest, the total penalty comes to $512 million. The ruling is the latest chapter in a patent infringement lawsuit covering handwriting recognition and date entry technologies; the $368 million award was handed down last April, and was far less than the original $1.5 billion awarded to Alcatel by a jury in February 2007.

The new ruling comes after Microsoft evaded a $419 million penalty in a separate suit involving video encoding earlier this month. Microsoft says it plans to appeal the ruling, and believes the damage award won’t stick.

Alcatel and Microsoft are involved in several patent disputes, some of which date back to the early 1990s. The San Diego court is still slated to hear two more patent infringement suits between the two companies.