Alcatel-Lucent Wins Suit

Alcatel-Lucent(ALU),the world's largest telecom equipment maker,has won a patent infringement lawsuit against Microsoft(MSFT).A U.S. District Court awarded the Franco-American firm 511.6 million dollars for infringement on two patents by Microsoft.It was a rare bit of good news for ALU,which has been struggling with the late 2006 merger of Alcatel with Lucent Technologies,as well as flat demand for telecom equipment.Their situation is further complicated by the strength of the euro against the U.S. dollar.The impact of the euro-dollar rate on their revenue is very large,Chief Financial Officer Hubert de Pesquidoux said.Although ALU,led by CEO Patricia Russo,is cutting 12,500 jobs and other costs,they have had to offer discounts to maintain market share,negating the savings achieved.The company continues to provide its customers with all their hardware needs,including mobile and fixed networks,as well as Internet television.The stock has been trading below 10.00 U.S. for many months.Microsoft said it will appeal the award.