Microsoft ordered to pay $62M in patent suit
Dispute involves NetMeeting conferencing product
Follow @infoworldA jury has ordered Microsoft to pay $62.3 million in damages for infringing on a technology patent held by a division of manufacturing and technology company SPX, the companies said Friday.
SPX said its Imagexpo subsidiary sued Microsoft in October last year for infringing on its patent with a feature of Microsoft's NetMeeting conferencing product. The patent related to real-time conferencing, SPX said in a statement.
The jury awarded Imagexpo $62.3 million in compensatory damages and found that Microsoft willfully infringed the patent, the company said. The court has yet to rule on other aspects of the case that could affect the final outcome, SPX said.
"We are disappointed in the jury's verdict and we continue to stand firm in our belief that there is no infringement of any kind on the patent" and that the Imagexpo and Microsoft technologies in question are "quite different," Microsoft spokeswoman Stacy Drake said.
She added that certain aspects of Microsoft's defense in the case have yet to be ruled upon.
Microsoft can appeal the outcome of the case, SPX said.
Microsoft infringed on the patent in a feature of its NetMeeting product called Whiteboard, SPX said. Microsoft stopped offering the Whiteboard feature in version 3 of NetMeeting, according to information on its Web site.
"Previous versions of NetMeeting included Whiteboard functionality. We regret that we are no longer able to offer Whiteboard in this version of NetMeeting," the Web site states.
Drake said Friday that the lawsuit had "no bearing" on Microsoft's decision to stop offering the feature.
