Lucent And Cisco Agree To Settle Patent Lawsuit
dailynews.yahoo.com
Lucent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:LU - news), the No. 1 maker of telephone
equipment, and Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:CSCO - news), the largest maker of Internet equipment, have agreed to
settle a year-old patent infringement lawsuit that Lucent brought against Cisco, the two companies said Friday.
Last June, Lucent sued San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco, alleging the computer networking company of infringing eight key
data network patents. After Lucent filed, Cisco responded with its own countersuit.
As part of the settlement, Cisco and Murray Hill, N.J.-based Lucent agreed to cross-license technology. Further terms of the settlement
weren't disclosed.
Cisco said the settlement would not result in a charge against its earnings.
''We are extremely pleased with the outcome of this settlement, which we believe is fair to both companies and very good news for our
customers as well,'' said Dan Scheinman, Cisco general counsel, in a statement.
Lucent officials could not be reached for immediate comment.
As traditional voice networks and newer data networks begin to converge, Cisco and Lucent are increasingly competing with each other.
Lucent Thursday completed its $25.2 billion acquisition of Ascend Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:ASND - news), a Cisco rival, to gain
access to networking equipment that will enable it to compete more effectively in the data world.
By the same token, Cisco has been active in purchasing smaller companies that are working on technologies to speed the integration of
traditional voice communications with data networks.
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