MP3 patent spat

Talking of Steve Jobs and his creations, there seems to be trouble brewing in the general direction of MP3 players. Patent suits are an unfortunate side effect of the technology industry. Companies need patents to protect their IP, but they rarely go suing other companies on the basis of their patents unless they are in serious danger of losing business or there is huge potential for a good return. The latter seems to be the case in Alcatel-Lucent's suit against Microsoft. It looks like Microsoft may have to shell out $1.52B if the ruling holds. Apple Insider discusses the impact of this for Apple, and its not pretty. Here is one case where Apple must be hoping Microsoft wins the fight ;-) Technology does indeed make for strange bedfellows. It will be interesting to see how this one turns out. Success does breed a lot of enemies. Apple has succeeded in winning many difficult cases and it will be fun to see how this one turns out, if indeed there is a lawsuit.