US court overturns Microsoft’s $358m damages award to Alcatel-Lucent
Published:14-September-2009
By Staff Reporter
Microsoft indirectly infringes Alcatel Lucent’s patents, says court
A federal appeals court has overturned the $358m damages award to Microsoft in a patent infringement case involving French telecoms equipment firm Alcatel-Lucent.
The long running dispute between the two companies was due to Alcatel-Lucent’s claim that Microsoft infringed one of its patent relating to the selection of date in Microsoft’s Outlook program.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit stated in a ruling that Microsoft did indirectly infringe Alcatel Lucent’s patents but said that it wasn’t supported by substantial evidence and need to be re-calculated.
The court stated in a ruling: “Because the damages award based on the infringing date-picker feature of Outlook is not supported by substantial evidence and is contrary to the clear weight of the evidence, the damages award must be vacated.”
The court said that Outlook is a complex software program comprising many features and it is inconceivable to conclude, based on the present record, that the use of one small feature, the date-picker, constitutes a substantial portion of the value of Outlook.
Reuters quotes an Alcatel-Lucent spokeswoman saying: “While we are disappointed that the court did not affirm the jury's decision on damages, we look forward to an upcoming proceeding to determine the compensation to which Alcatel-Lucent is entitled based on the court's finding that Microsoft did use our patented invention.”
