HDTV/3D TV News
All is not well on the IPTV home front.
Alcatel has released a one paragraph announcement concerning its lawsuit against Microsoft. It initiated the lawsuit to preserve its rights to fair compensation for its intellectual rights. According to some speculation, the dispute could be over IPTV middleware.
The two companies were once in a close alliance. In 2004, the two were awarded complimentary contracts for SBC’s Project Lightspeed. In 2005, Alcatel and Microsoft announce a global collaboration designed to develop an Integrated IPTV delivery solution.
The union was set up to take advantage of each of their strengths. Alcatel is a leader in broadband, IP Networking, development, and integration of end-to-end multimedia and video solutions. Microsoft is a leader in TV software solutions and connected-entertainment experiences across consumer devises.
The two industry leaders had hoped their collaboration would rapidly accelerate the availability of IPTV services.
All is not lost. Alcatel is hoping that the dispute can be settled without court intervention. However, industry experts fear the alliance will be seriously damaged because the disputed intellectual rights are probably at the center of the two companies IPTV middleware.
Alcatel had ceased its own development of IPTV middleware when it began the cooperative work with Microsoft. It filed the suit on November 17 of this year in US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
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