Analyst: Microsoft Loss in MP3 Case Sets Dangerous Precedent
Last night, Carmi Levy wrote a detailed response for BetaNews about the verdict. In it, Levy shares his belief that Microsoft may have only begun to fight:
It would be a mistake to believe that this judgment is the end of the road for either party. Microsoft will no doubt continue to fight this in the courts of law and public opinion until its last legal option has been exhausted. Microsoft never backs down from a good fight, and this fight only begins with MP3s. Microsoft is in fact fighting off four other legal challenges in the San Diego court, and will be facing the music on these outstanding issues over next few months. The remaining claims include: Microsoft's incorporation of speech coding technology in Windows, user interface patents, Xbox-related technology, and video coding in a range of other Microsoft products.
The sheer size of this first judgment compels Microsoft to fight back, as it could set a dangerous and similarly expensive precedent for the remaining four claims. Microsoft can't afford to accept this ruling as is. It has asked the judge to set aside the ruling and, failing that, has indicated it will appeal. By turning the legal wheels quickly, Microsoft sends a defiant message before the next case, on speech coding technology, is heard in March or April.
This is a pivotal time for Microsoft. It is transitioning its core operating system and productivity suite franchises to Vista and Office 2007, respectively. It faces a significant market challenge to its enterprise Office hegemony from Google, which has just launched Google Apps Premier Edition, and it's also in court against AT&T. Although the two settled a patent infringement suit over speech decoding technology within the U.S. jurisdiction, AT&T subsequently took the case global, claiming the technology embedded in Windows outside of the U.S. represented a misuse of AT&T's intellectual property. The two companies headed to the U.S. Supreme Court this week to have the case heard there.
High stakes legal challenges on both American and global fronts, and a relentless challenge for the very future of the desktop that Microsoft has for so long dominated. These are pivotal times for Microsoft, and its only option is to come out swinging in the wake of this first Alcatel-Lucent judgment.