Patent office favors Microsoft on key issue in Alcatel-Lucent case |
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The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has ruled that two claims in a disputed Alcatel-Lucent patent are invalid, Microsoft said today, supplying new ammunition against a $358 million jury verdict the Redmond company currently appealing.
Alcatel-Lucent alleged that the “date-picker” feature in Microsoft Outlook infringed the patent. The "Day" patent, as it's known, is the only lingering dispute between the companies following a settlement of nearly all their outstanding litigation last year. Microsoft's appeal of the jury verdict is currently in front of the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.
“After a careful review, the Patent Office has confirmed what we have been saying all along: The asserted claims of the 'Day' patent are invalid and never should have been granted in the first place," Microsoft spokesman David Bowermaster in a statement. "We are confident the Federal Circuit will agree with the Patent Office that the 'Day' patent is invalid and will reverse the lower court’s ruling.”
Bloomberg New quotes an Alactel-Lucent spokeswoman as saying the company will pursue additional avenues at the patent office to reconsider the validity of the patent.
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