A US federal jury found that Microsoft Corp. infringed audio patents held by Alcatel-Lucent and should pay $1.52 billion in damages, the No. 1 software maker said on Thursday.

Microsoft said it plans to first ask the trial judge to knock down the ruling and will appeal if necessary. It said the verdict is unsupported by the law and that it had already licensed the technology in question from Germany's Fraunhofer.

Alcatel-Lucent had accused the world's biggest software maker of infringing patents related to standards used for playing MP3 digital music files.

One analyst said the decision means Alcatel-Lucent may seek payments from providers of software and hardware that support MP3 files, including Apple Inc's iPod and iTunes.

"Potentially it's a significant windfall for Alcatel-Lucent," Bernstein analyst Paul Sagawa said.

He said Alcatel-Lucent could go after include MP3 player makers Sony Corp, Creative Technology Ltd and music service provider Napster Inc.

For Microsoft, $1.52 billion represents about six weeks of cash flow or about 15 cents per share--a charge that most analysts would likely take in stride, according to Goldman Sachs analyst Rick Sherlund.

"While $1.52 billion is a large sum, it is less than the $4.5 billion Alcatel-Lucent originally sought according to other press reports and is not particularly material in our opinion when considered with the amount of cash on Microsoft's balance sheet and substantial free cash flow generation of about $1 billion per month," he wrote in a research note.

The $1.52 billion awarded was based on 0.5 per cent of the price of personal computers sold since around mid-2003, Tom Burt, Microsoft's deputy general counsel, said.

Microsoft said the award could be roughly halved because it related to overseas sales depending on the outcome of a patent case being heard by the US Supreme Court, which coincidentally also involves Microsoft.

The High Court is considering whether companies should be held liable for damages in US patent cases for infringing software distributed overseas.

Microsoft said it has already licensed the MP3 technology in question from German research organisation Fraunhofer Gesellschaft for $16 million.

"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," Burt said. Computer, cell phone and MP3 player makers may be affected as well as software suppliers, he said.

Burt said that it could be a matter of weeks or months before the judge makes a final ruling in the case and that an appeal could take another year or so after that.

Alcatel-Lucent spokeswoman Joan Campion said the company was pleased with Thursday's decision but would not say whether Lucent would go after other companies that support MP3s.

"We consider (intellectual property) a vital asset and as a vital asset we'll continue to protect and defend it," she said. The case related to two patents, one issued in 1994 and the other issued in 1997.

Microsoft and Alcatel are locked in a number of patent disputes including a suit over the video-decoding technology in Microsoft's Xbox 360 video game console.

Microsoft said it filed a case at the International Trade Commission to seek a ban on the US 'importation of unlicensed Alcatel-Lucent products' until it has taken licenses.

Shares of Microsoft closed 4 cents higher at $29.39 on Nasdaq on Thursday. Alcatel-Lucent's US shares ended 7 cents higher at $13.14 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Courtesy : Expressindia.com

Hyundai Motor Corporation, the world's sixth-largest automaker, on Monday denied a British newspaper report that it is interested in acquiring Chrysler, the US unit of German automaker DaimlerChrysler.

"We are not considering to buy Chrysler because our hands are full," Hyundai spokesman Jake Jang said, responding to a report in the The Times newspaper that the South Korean automaker was among companies interested in bidding for the Chrysler Group.

The Times reported on its website that Hyundai was thought to be interested in joining possible bidders for the US automaker, without citing specific sources. The paper said that Hyundai was believed to be interested in gaining access to Chrysler's network of dealerships in the US.

Speculation regarding Chrysler has intensified since Wednesday, when DaimlerChrysler AG Chairman Dieter Zetsche said the automaker would not rule out a possible sale of its US operations, which it acquired in 1998.

Zetsche, who formerly led Chrysler Group, said the German company is considering all options for its US operation, including strategic partners.

Automotive News, a trade publication, reported last week that General Motors Corporation is in talks to acquire Chrysler. GM and Chrysler officials declined to comment on the Automotive News report, which cited sources in Germany and the US whom it did not identify.

Hyundai currently has an engine alliance with Chrysler and Japan's Mitsubishi Motors Corporation under which Hyundai allows those companies to manufacture engines based on Hyundai design, Jang said.


Courtesy : Expressindia.com

Sunil Mittal-promoted Bharti Enterprises said it would go ahead with its retail plans with Wal-Mart unless the government specifically asked it to stop.

"We will proceed with our plans unless the government specifically asks us to stop," Bharti Enterprises Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal told reporters when asked about the letter by the Prime Minister's Office to the Industry Ministry on the the impact of FDI in retail.

He said the development would not affect the tie-up with Wal Mart as the foreign partner was entering in the back-end operations.

Courtesy : Exrpessindia.com