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MP3 patent violation by Microsoft |
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Written by Kostas Tzounopoulos
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Thursday, 22 February 2007 |
An MP3 patent of Alcatel-Lucent has been violated by Microsoft which is now asked to pay for damages $1.5 billion! Although Microsoft has a license from the Fraunhoffer institute, 2 patents of Alcatel-Lucent are violated according to a federal court in San Diego...
"We are concerned that this decision opens the door for Alcatel-Lucent to pursue action against hundreds of other companies who purchased the rights to use MP3 technology from Fraunhofer, the industry-recognised rightful licensor," said Tom Burt, Microsoft's deputy general counsel. "The damages award seems particularly outrageous when you consider we paid Fraunhofer only $16 million to license this technology," Burt added. "We invented it and everybody else is making money off it," said Alcatel-Lucent lawyer John Desmarais If Microsoft gets forced to pay this fine, could mean future versions of Media Player, Zune Software and Zune player will not support the MP3 codec. This decision could also open the way for other lawsuits against companies using MP3. Will the industry choose to continue using a very expensive MP3 in the future or turn to wma, aac or the completely free ogg vorbis? [via ITwire Australia ] related articles:
MP3 patent suit against Microsoft
Microsoft licensed MP3 by sisvel
Wi-Fi patent threat for Zune
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 22 February 2007 )
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