A US judge has ruled that it is time for Microsoft to pay $1.5 billion to Alcatel-Lucent Technologies. Microsoft was found guilty last February of violating the MP3 patents owned by Alcatel-Lucent.
The court reached this decision because it did not see why the payment should be delayed. An Alcatel-Lucent spokesperson is relieved and says the company will continue to protect its intellectual property. The company started suing Dell and Gateway Inc as early as 2003. for violating fifteen patents. Later that year, Microsoft put itself on the suspect list, saying the patents would be close to the Windows operating system. Microsoft said at its last hearing that it disputes that the Lucent patents apply to MP3 decoders and encoders. The company added that it will source its MP3 software, which is used with Windows Media Player, from a German company. Alcatel-Lucent is still pursuing a lawsuit against Dell and Gateway over user interface technology; the hearing in this case will take place on 21 May.