A federal court jury last month awarded $62.3 million in damages to Imagexpo's parent, printing software and industrial technology giant SPX Corporation, in a decision that found Microsoft had intentionally incorporated Imagexpo's whiteboarding technology into Windows NetMeeting. The technology is protected under ten-year old U.S. Patent No. 5,206,934, "Method and apparatus for interactive computer conferencing."

Microsoft could have been liable for even greater damages -- up to $186.9 million -- due to the court's finding that it intentionally misused the patented technology. Under the terms of the settlement, however, Microsoft will pay SPX $60 million this week, minus legal and other unspecified expenses, SPX said.

SPX did not disclose why it agreed to the settlement when it could have received between $2.3 million and about $125 million more. However, it's likely that Microsoft had aimed to appeal the court's finding by presenting evidence that could have challenged Imagexpo's patent, rendering it invalid.

Spokespeople from either company did not return requests for comment by press time.

Imagexpo originally bought the lawsuit brought against Microsoft in Oct. 2002 in federal court in Richmond, Va.

At the heart of the matter is technology in Imagexpo's software that enables multi-person conferences for the purpose of reviewing and editing prepress images. In the suit, the firm claimed that Microsoft integrated the technology into the whiteboarding features of Windows NetMeeting, Microsoft's early real-time chat and collaboration tool, which has been a part of Microsoft Windows for years.

But Microsoft spokespeople maintained the company had developed NetMeeting's technology on its own.

"We continue to stand firm in our belief that there was no infringement of any kind on the Imagexpo patent, and that the technologies in question are indeed different," Microsoft spokesperson Stacy Drake said at the time of the jury's decision. "As an intellectual property company that has invested heavily in research and development, we take patent infringement very seriously and respect the intellectual property rights of others."

At the time of the jury's verdict, both sides also said unspecified legal issues needed to be decided before damages are actually awarded -- or before Microsoft decided to file an appeal.

In addition to concluding the companies' yearlong legal battle, the settlement means that Imagexpo will not ask the court for an injunction against NetMeeting.

For its part, Microsoft has said that it has been working to phase out NetMeeting in favor of more modern technology. Starting in 2001, whiteboarding features have been built into the Windows operating system in connection with its Windows Messenger instant messaging client. More recently, Microsoft debuted Office Live Meeting 2003, an offering based on its January acquisition of PlaceWare, on which Drake said the company would concentrate its future real-time collaboration efforts.

Christopher Saunders is managing editor of InstantMessagingPlanet.com.