Time to cough up the dough, baby!

This is gonna cost Billy's company. Like 5 seconds worth of profits or something... But anywho, maybe the time is done when M$ could get away with murder. Microsoft Hit With $1.5B in Damages:

SEATTLE (AP) -- Microsoft Corp. on Thursday lost the first of six patent lawsuits brought by Paris-based telecom equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent, and a federal district court jury set damages at $1.5 billion.

The Redmond, Wash.-based software maker said the patents in question govern the conversion of audio into the digital MP3 file format on personal computers.

Alcatel-Lucent filed 15 patent claims against PC makers Gateway Inc. and Dell Inc. in 2003. Microsoft later agreed to replace those defendants, saying it got involved because the patents were closely tied to its Windows operating system. ...

Click to expand...

Of course, M$ is mightly unhappy with this verdict.

Just a question to those who know about the US court system. Can M$ go for an appeal in a patent lawsuit?

They can appeal on the basis of the validity of the patents. However, with the number of patents presented, it's very possible that Microsoft will lose their appeal. Though it is possible that they might get the fine reduced.

Legislators are looking into making patents applicable only if the patent holder is actively using the patent. Under current law, you can just hold a patent and prosecute those who violate even if you aren't making anything with the patent. This was the case last year against Research In Motion on their Blackberry technology. A patent holding company sued for infringement even though the company doesn't actually make any products, just litigates against those who seemingly violate their patents. Unfortunately, patent reform is still a long ways off.

Pffft....breakfast money for M$.

You guys have to realize that while a billion dollars may seem like pocket change to Microsoft, these sort of suits actually hurt their bottom line in ways more than putting a dent into their assets.

These lawsuits drive down investor confidence, and if investor's don't feel comfortable with a company, that means stock prices go down, which in the end is bad for the consumer. The company has to take measures to increase profits, which essentially either means higher prices for products or a drop in quality (either in the product itself or in supporting services such as customer service and third party contracts).

So yes, 1.5Billion is pocket change for Microsoft, but this suit hurts US more than it hurts THEM.

A billion 5 ain't pocket change to anyone. That much puts a hurt on any company.

While I never mind seeing Microsoft take the odd bash now and then, I don't know enough about this case to know whether it is justified or not. For now, I tend to degree - $1.5B is a LOT of money!

They'll probably manage to win the rest of the cases, somehow. Oh well.

Wouldn't be so sure of that, m$ looses many times, but not usually at that high a level. Usually its 10 million or so which is pocket change to them, but a 1.5 billion would really put a hurt on the ol pocket book.

Of course they will appeal and probably get it reduced or at least tie it up in court for years.

Why wouldn't Apple be affected by the ruling? Its not as though its players know nothing of mp3s. Even Flip4Mac might feel the heat.