Alcatel and Lucent merge; initiate lawsuits against Microsoft

Filed in archive IPTV on December 10, 2006

a lover's triangle rarely works out well

Ah, congratulate the newlyweds. Alcatel and Lucent are now blissfully married. Their union is symbolized by the eternity ring of their new combined logo - an infinity symbol that combines the A and the L of their respective names. According to their CEO, Patricia Russo, the new logo "represents the endless possibilities for the future".


I know you are gushing with a warm feeling of nausea, just as I am.

One consequence of this union is that Alcatel is now the largest communications equipment supplier in the world, overtaking Ericsson.

However, Alcatel's affair (strategic partnership) with Microsoft is becoming strained. The alliance helped Microsoft gain credibility with telecoms that required carrier class credentials that the software company lacked. But now the former lovers are complaining about petty patent issues. Will they stay together for the sake of the children (their key customers)?

Long ago Alcatel and Microsoft were star-crossed lovers. Alcatel even sold its Open Media Platform to iMagicTV. With the Lucent dowry, Alcatel acquires a second solution based on the Imagenio platform originally developed for Telefónica in Spain. This same platform was recently used in the Czech Republic.

But now Alcatel has traveled to the distant land of Texas to file 3 patent infringement suits against Microsoft. According to Informitv, Oracle had "trick-play features for its Video Server. The patents were sold to Thirdspace, which was subsequently acquired by Alcatel."