Microsoft loses a $242 million US jury trial over the Cortana patent
2018 saw the filing of the case by IPA, which accused Microsoft of violating patents pertaining to voice-activated data navigation and personal digital assistants.
A federal jury in Delaware found on Friday that Microsoft's Cortana virtual assistant software violated an IPA patent, and as a result, Microsoft was ordered to pay the patent owner, IPA Technologies, $242 million.
After a week-long trial, the jury found in favor of IPA, finding that Microsoft's voice-recognition technology infringes on IPA's patent rights in computer communications software.
IPA is a division of Wi-LAN, a patent licensing business that is controlled by two investment groups and the Canadian technology company Quarterhill. It purchased the patent along with others from Siri Inc., a division of SRI International, which Apple purchased in 2010 and used for the development of its virtual assistant, Siri.
A Microsoft representative said, "We remain confident that Microsoft never infringed on IPA's patents and will appeal."
An inquiry on the ruling was not immediately answered by IPA or Wi-LAN representatives.
2018 saw the filing of the case by IPA, which charged Microsoft of violating patents pertaining to voice-activated data navigation and personal digital assistants.
Subsequently, the lawsuit was limited to one IPA patent. Microsoft claimed that the patent is invalid and that it does not infringe.
In relation to its patents, IPA has also sued Google and Amazon. In 2021, Amazon prevailed against IPA in court, while the Google case is still pending.
(Aurora Ellis edited; Blake Brittain reported from Washington.)
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