SEATTLE, April 12: Software giant Microsoft Corp. said on Friday it has filed a complaint against Lucent Technologies Inc. to counter claims by Lucent that Microsoft’s hardware partners were infringing on the telecoms equipment maker’s patents.

Dell Computer Corp.and Gateway Inc. which make personal computers with Microsoft’s Windows programs, were sued by Lucent for allegedly infringing on patents created by Bell Labs, Lucent’s research arm.

The two computer makers then asked Microsoft to shield them from Lucent’s claims since the technologies in question — patents for audio and video encoding, and for displays — were built into Microsoft’s products.

In response, Microsoft filed a declaratory judgment complaint in San Diego, California, on Tuesday, a step that lawyers said is used to establish the facts of a case before heading into litigation or negotiations.

Lucent has made broad claims that we have been infringing on their patents. In addition to protecting our ... partners (Dell and Gateway) we are taking this action today to get some clarity from Lucent, said Microsoft spokeswoman Stacy Drake.

We believe that there has been no infringement and that Lucent’s claims are unfounded, Drake said.

Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft’s complaint against Lucent could either lead to a lawsuit, filed by either party, or result in an agreement, legal experts say.—Reuters