Judge to rule later on Lucent/Newbridge retrial
Reuters, 07/7/2000 23:27
WILMINGTON, Del., July 7 (Reuters) - A federal judge said on Friday he would rule at a later date on whether to grant Newbridge Networks Corp, now part of Alcatel (NYSE:ALA), a new trial in a 1997 patent dispute brought by Lucent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:LU)
In November, a jury found Newbridge products infringed on five Lucent patents for data networking systems used in Internet communications. The jury awarded Lucent $9.6 million in damages based on sales through Jan. 31, 1999, of the allegedly infringing Newbridge product lines MainStreet, MainsStreetXpress and Vivid.
At that time, Newbridge promised it would seek a new trial because Lucent had allegedly "abused our industry's standardization process."
In a hearing Friday, Newbridge attorney Thomas Kenworthy told presiding Judge Joseph Farnan, of the U.S. District Court in Delaware, that a retrial was justified because of the "substantial prejudice" to Newbridge's case.
According to Kenworthy, Farnan had failed to consider the defense of indefiniteness when he interpreted the claims of the patent for the jury, then issued the claims ruling so close to the trial date, Newbridge was left with insufficient time to challenge the findings.
Farnan will decide whether to grant Newbridge's motion for a retrial; or to grant Lucent's motion that the validity of the patents be upheld and that $57 million be awarded.
Lucent attorney John Desmarais told Reuters the $57 million figure included the $9.6 million jury award for damages through January 1999, plus lost royalties through November, when Lucent signed a licensing agreement with Alcatel after the French telecommunications company acquired Newbridge.
Farnan can triple the damages award because the jury ruled the infringement was intentional.
Lucent also seeks interest and $5 million in attorneys' fees, Desmarais said.
Copyright 2000, Reuters News Service |
