Regarding the recent Alcatel-Lucent suit, a federal judge ruled that Windows maker did not infringe on patent for speech coding technology. "The ruling from the bench by U.S. District Judge Rudi Brewster in San Diego late Thursday relates to an Alcatel-Lucent patent covering speech coding technology," the companies said.

"The judge dismissed all of Alcatel-Lucent's claims, which means a jury trial set to begin March 19 will not proceed," Microsoft spokesman Jack Evans said. Alcatel-Lucent intends to appeal the ruling and is "comfortable with our chances of success as the case makes its way through the legal system," spokeswoman Joan Campion added.

Tom Burt, deputy general counsel for Microsoft, said the ruling "reaffirms our confidence that once there's judicial review of these complex patent cases, these Alcatel-Lucent claims ultimately won't stand up."

The dispute between the companies dates back to 2002, when Lucent sued PC makers Dell and Gateway over their use of the audio technology. The legal battle worsened to include Microsoft. The latter has countersued, and there have been additional legal actions in other fora, including an International Trade Commission case.