Microsoft to pay SPX $60M in patent suit

The dispute centered on conferencing software Whiteboard feature

By Robert McMillan, IDG News Service

December 26, 2003 12:00 PM ET

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IDG News Service - Microsoft Corp. will pay $60 million for violating a patent held by a division of SPX Corp., a Charlotte, N.C.-based manufacturing and technology company, SPX said in a statement released on Wednesday.
On Nov. 14, a jury awarded SPX's Imagexpo LLC subsidiary $62.3 million in damages after finding that Microsoft had willfully infringed a technology patent held by Imagexpo.
Microsoft infringed on the patent with the Whiteboard feature of its NetMeeting conferencing software, SPX said.
After the November ruling, it was unclear whether Microsoft, which denied any patent infringement had occurred, would appeal the jury's decision, but Wednesday's settlement resolves the matter, said Stacy Drake, a Microsoft spokeswoman.
As part of the settlement, Microsoft has now licensed the Imagexpo technology, Drake said.
What the software giant plans to do with the licenses is unclear, however. Microsoft has now retired NetMeeting, and Drake couldn't say whether the Imagexpo technology would be used in Microsoft's current conferencing offering, Office Live Meeting, which was formerly known as PlaceWare.
Microsoft will pay the $60 million by Dec. 30, SBX said.
SBX couldn't be reached for comment.

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