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Court Favors Microsoft in Patent Fight

The Supreme Court sided with Microsoft Corp. on Monday in a case that restricts the reach of U.S. patents overseas.

The Supreme Court sided with Microsoft Corp. on Monday in a case that restricts the reach of U.S. patents overseas.

In a 7-1 decision, the court found that Microsoft is not liable in a patent dispute with AT&T.

The decision could impact other lawsuits against Microsoft and save the company billions because of the global scope of its operations.

AT&T had sued Microsoft, alleging computers running the Windows operating system infringe on an AT&T technology that compresses speech into computer code.

AT&T said it is entitled to damages for every Windows-based computer manufactured outside the United States, which uses the digital speech coder system.

Microsoft acknowledged violations in the United States regarding the AT&T patent, while insisting the infringement should not be extended internationally.

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