In a bizarre turn of events a federal district court judge tossed out last February's ruling against Microsoft for patent infringements tied to the licensing of the MP3 format. The full reversal comes as Judge Rudi Brewster produced a mind-numbingly long 43-page order announcing that the jury's hefty $1.5 billion damage award wasn't applicable due to evidence proving that Microsoft did not infringe on one of the two patents in question. The folks in Redmond were practically frothy with self-righteousness at the news:
For those who don't follow the software giant's legal tribulations closely, this lawsuit was originally filed by Alcatel-Lucent. The embattled telecommunications hardware provider was apparently part of a consortium (along with Bell Laboratories, Thomson, and the Fraunhofer
Institute) that worked together to pioneer the MP3 standard. Of course, since Alcatel-Lucent is a descendent of Bell Labs, and Microsoft chose to secure its MP3 license through Fraunhofer, the whole thing has turned into a legal battle. It's complicated, convoluted, and kind of like the tech patent version of General Hospital.
Despite the courtroom flip-flopping, it is interesting to see Microsoft's mettle tested on the patent front. With all the hell they've been raising in the Linux community, it's nice to see that Redmond isn't above the law...even if the legal system doesn't always work the first go-round.
With Microsoft only being cleared of one of two infringements, and Alcatel's habit of filing ridiculous patent suits, I think it's safe to say this fight is far from over. Still, I've got a feeling I know where the money to pay off the Xbox 360 recall is going to come from...
