Microsoft fined $242 million over Cortana patent lawsuit

A jury sided with IPA (Intelligent Personal Assistant) in a week-long trial against Microsoft. They agreed that the voice recognition technology used by Cortana infringes the IPA's computer communications software patent rights. As a result, the court ordered Microsoft to pay compensation in the amount of $242 million.

About the patent

IPA is a subsidiary of Wi-LAN, which specializes in patent licensing and is owned by Canadian technology firm Quarterhill.

The patent at issue was acquired by IPA from Siri Inc., which was previously owned by SRI International. In 2010, Apple bought Siri Inc. and used its technology to create its virtual assistant Siri.

Note that Microsoft has decided to abandon the Cortana virtual assistant. Official support for the software has been discontinued.

Details of the trial

The IPA initiated legal action against Microsoft in 2018, accusing the company of infringing several patents related to personal digital assistants and voice-based data navigation.

During the trial, the case was narrowed to one specific patent. Microsoft maintained its innocence and disputed the validity of the patent, but the jury sided with the IPA.

In addition to Microsoft, the IPA has also sued Google and Amazon, accusing them of infringing their patents. In 2021, Amazon managed to dismiss the lawsuit, and the legal battle with Google is still ongoing.