A San Diego jury ordered Microsoft to pay Alcatel-Lucent damages at the amount of $1.5 billion, for infringing a patent covering the MP3 technology.

Microsoft contended that it licensed the technology by paying $16 Million to a German company that was involved in the development of the MP3 technology. However, the jury rejected this contention and awarded the plaintiff with the highest amount of damages ever awarded in a patent case.

If the verdict is upheld in higher instances, it may pave the way for numerous additional lawsuits by Alcatel against other large companies (such as Apple) using the same technology.