Alcatel has accused Microsoft of infringing seven of its U.S. patents. The patents describe how to implement fast-forward and rewind functions in digital video streams, among other things.
 
The French networking equipment manufacturer filed two suits with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas on Friday, asking the court to rule that Microsoft wilfully infringed on the patents. Through its local subsidiary, Alcatel USA Resources of Plano, Texas, the company is seeking an end to the infringement, treble damages, and payment of interest charges and legal costs.

Alcatel representatives could not immediately say which Microsoft products are alleged to infringe on Alcatel's patents. Microsoft representatives in Europe referred questions to their colleagues in the U.S.

The first suit concerns three patents: numbers 6,339,830 and 6,874,090, both entitled "Deterministic User Authentication Service for Communication Network," and number 6,661,799, entitled "Method And Apparatus for Facilitating Peer-to-Peer Application Communication." Continue At Source

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