Alcatel Suit and Other Legal News

French telecommunications equipment provider Alcatel has sued Microsoft for patent infringement, raising questions about the companies’ Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) partnership. Microsoft also settled a patent suit that it had filed against peripheral maker Belkin, reached tentative settlements in two antitrust cases filed on behalf of consumers in Arkansas and Wisconsin, and went to trial in Iowa in a similar antitrust case.

IPTV Partnership in Trouble?

Alcatel has filed two lawsuits alleging that Microsoft violated seven of its patents, including one that describes how to implement functions such as fast-forward, rewind, and jumping to a specific point in a digital video stream. These features are important for IPTV, which enables telephone companies to deliver TV signals over dedicated IP networks. The suits were filed on Nov. 21, 2006, in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Texas, a favored jurisdiction for filing patent-infringement cases.

The move raises questions about a Feb. 2005 deal in which Alcatel agreed to promote Microsoft’s IPTV solution ahead of its own, and in exchange became Microsoft’s preferred reseller and integrator for IPTV. As of Nov. 2006, the two companies were working together on IPTV rollouts for several customers, including AT&T. However, recent reports claim that Alcatel continues to improve its own competing IPTV technology and offer it in bids for some potential customers, such as Canadian telecommunications company Telus.