pcworld.com — Lucent Technologies has filed an injunction against Microsoft that could disrupt the distribution of the Xbox 360 game consoles. This would be a major blow to the 360 in the midst of the PS3 and Revolution releases.
Apr 15, 2006 View in Crawl 4
kolop1Apr 15, 2006
Microsoft has to much money. They will just settle and move on. I dont see them stopping production of the 360 for this.
Closed AccountApr 16, 2006
This article is so old my Grandma knows about it. On another note, did you ever hear the story about a stupid Digg user that had the audacity to post a reply on Slashdot about a topic was talked about already on Digg. You have to be a real dumb ass to think they would even give a s**t, but apparently he did.
enricofermiApr 16, 2006
I for one am pretty tired of hearing about these cases. Something needs to change in the entire patent filing/holding process to keep these failing and fledgling companies from stifling innovation. The USPTO needs to require patents to be more descriptive and maybe force patent holders to provide a specific intended use for their technology.
mejogidApr 16, 2006
I'm pretty sure the xbox department is making a loss right now... they loose money on the 360s and haven't made enough back in software sales. And the original xbox has never been a profit-maker.
atomic1fireApr 16, 2006
<a class="user" href="http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5227878.html">http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5227878.html</a>thats the patent they are complaining about
deejayknightApr 16, 2006
Is it just me or is everyone ignoring the fact that Microsoft can just update/patch the 360 if/when they figure out the specifics of what the lawsuit is about?Unless it's something deep within the chip structuring of the console, it can be patched. Lucent either didn't know that or it's a hardware problem...
oraboxApr 16, 2006
Talking about stock prices just dilutes the issue.MS is getting a bit of its own medicine and I for one am glad to see it. What did Woz say a while back about MS needing to shed the Darth Vader mask, well honestly this is not a way to do it.
implosionApr 16, 2006
Maybe I missed something. Why is Lucent suing Microsoft? Microsoft does have a license for mpeg2. You can go to the MPEG LA site to verify this. Microsoft is #616 in a long line of licensees. <a class="user" href="http://www.mpegla.com/m2/m2-licensees.cfm">http://www.mpegla.com/m2/m2-licensees.cfm</a>There are over 700 patents connected to and 20 or more companies that added technology to the mpeg2 standard. The patent number 5,227,878, "Adaptive Coding and Decoding of Frames and Fields of Video." is one of hundreds of patents that goes into the mpeg2 standard.What makes Lucent special? Wouldn't Sony, another contributer to mpeg2, have said something already? I'm sure that Sony or any of the other companies would have cried foul already. Why only Lucent?In my view Microsoft has a license therefore Lucent has no case.
spikexApr 16, 2006
On a semi-related note, and FYI, Lucent was bought out by Alcatel in France, so that's its new name. I don't know when they'll release the news to the press, if they haven't already.
jm9206755Apr 16, 2006
Assuming of course Lucent chooses to settle. Them or the company their merging with may decide it is more financially sound in the long run to defend their patent.