Microsoft ordered to pay IPA Technologies $242 million in Cortana patent lawsuit

Microsoft must pay patent owner IPA Technologies $242 million, a federal jury in Delaware said Friday after finding that Microsoft’s Cortana virtual assistant software infringed on an IPA patent.

A jury agreed with the IPA after a weeklong trial that Microsoft’s voice recognition technology infringed on the IPA’s patent rights in computer communications software.

IPA is a subsidiary of patent licensing company Wi-LAN, which is jointly owned by Canadian technology company Quarterhill and two investment companies. It bought the patent and others from SRI International’s Siri Inc, which Apple acquired in 2010 and whose technology it uses in its Siri virtual assistant.

“We remain confident that Microsoft has never infringed the IPA patents and will appeal,” a Microsoft spokesperson said.

Representatives for IPA and Wi-LAN did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the verdict.

The IPA filed the lawsuit in 2018, accusing Microsoft of infringing patents related to personal digital assistants and voice data navigation.

The case was later narrowed down to one IPA patent. Microsoft claims that it does not infringe and that the patent is invalid.

The IPA is also suing Google and Amazon over its patents. Amazon won the IPA case in 2021, and the Google case is still ongoing.

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