Alcatel-Lucent SA, the world's largest telecommunications equipment maker, settled patent infringement claims against Acer Inc's Gateway yesterday that were part of a larger dispute with Microsoft Corp and Dell Inc.
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, Alcatel-Lucent spokeswoman Mary Ward said. A trial against Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, and Dell was scheduled to begin next week in federal court in San Diego.
"We have signed an agreement with Gateway," Ward said in a telephone interview. "We are pleased to be able to put this issue between our two companies behind us."
Alcatel-Lucent claimed computers made by Dell and Gateway, and containing Microsoft's operating system, infringed five patents, including ones for video signals and displays as well as operating a computer with a stylus. Microsoft said in a Jan. 14 court filing that Alcatel-Lucent demanded a total of more than US$3.49 billion from the three companies.
Alcatel-Lucent was seeking as much as US$309.6 million from Gateway and US$119.8 million more from Gateway and Microsoft together, Microsoft said in the filing. The amount Paris-based Alcatel-Lucent is seeking has since changed as the trial neared.
Officials with Irvine, California-based Gateway and Taipei-based Acer did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
Lucent Technologies Inc, which Alcatel acquired in 2006, sued Dell and Gateway in 2002. Microsoft in turn sued Lucent, after the computer makers said Microsoft would have to reimburse them for any damages they might have to pay in the suits. The cases were combined and then split by the different technologies.
In the first trial with Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft, a jury awarded Alcatel-Lucent US$1.52 billion. The judge later threw out the verdict and the case is now on appeal.
Alcatel-Lucent American depositary receipts, each representing one ordinary share, fell US$0.12 to US$6.07 on the New York Stock Exchange.
The EU and US are nearing an agreement to coordinate on producing and securing critical minerals, part of a push to break reliance on Chinese supplies. The potential deal would create incentives, such as minimum prices, that could advantage non-Chinese suppliers, according to a draft of an “action plan” seen by Bloomberg. The EU and US would also cooperate on standards, investments and joint projects, as well as coordinate on any supply disruptions by countries like China. The two sides are additionally seeking other “like-minded partners” to join a multicountry accord to help create these new critical mineral supply chains, which feed into
For weeks now, the global tech industry has been waiting for a major artificial intelligence (AI) launch from DeepSeek (深度求索), seen as a benchmark for China’s progress in the fast-moving field. More than a year has passed since the start-up put Chinese AI on the map in early last year with a low-cost chatbot that performed at a similar level to US rivals. However, despite reports and rumors about its imminent release, DeepSeek’s next-generation “V4” model is nowhere in sight. Speculation is also swirling over the geopolitical implications of which computer chips were chosen to train and power the new
Elon Musk’s lieutenants have reached out to chip industry suppliers, including Applied Materials Inc, Tokyo Electron Ltd and Lam Research Corp, for his envisioned Terafab, early steps in an audacious and likely arduous attempt to break into the production of cutting-edge chips. Staff working for the joint venture between Tesla Inc and Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) have sought price quotes and delivery times for an array of chipmaking gear, people familiar with the matter said. In past weeks, they’ve contacted makers of photomasks, substrates, etchers, depositors, cleaning devices, testers and other tools, according to the people, who asked not to
Japan approved ￥631.5 billion (US$3.97 billion) in additional subsidies to hasten Rapidus Corp’s entry into the high-stakes artificial intelligence (AI) chipmaking arena, ramping up support for a project widely regarded as a long shot. The capital is intended to bankroll Rapidus’ work for information technology firm Fujitsu Ltd, one of the initial customers that Tokyo hopes would get the signature endeavor off the ground. The new money raises the fees and investments that the government is injecting into the start-up to ￥2.6 trillion by the end of the current fiscal year to March next year, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and
RSS