Microsoft Plans Search Technology Center in Europe

Microsoft plans to open a Search Technology Center (STC) in Europe in fiscal 2009 to improve and expand its search advertising business.

The center, modeled after its Search Technology Center in Beijing, China, will work with live search companies to advance the search technology.

Satya Nadella, senior vice president of the Search, Portal and Advertising Group at Microsoft, said: “The new center is in line with the investments we are making in the enterprise search space in Europe, like the January 2008 acquisition of Fast Search & Transfer SA. We’re looking forward to opening the European Search Technology Center to further our investments.”

Klausner Technologies has settled a patent-infringement suit with Apple and AT&T, filed last year in the US District Court of Texas, alleging that Apple’s iPhone along with services from AT&T had infringed two of its patents relating to visual voice mail technology.

The visual voice mail technology enables iPhone users to check all incoming voice messages in an e-mail-format, with the option of designating the order of playing back the messages.

The company had sought $360m in damages and future royalties when it filed the lawsuit. Both Apple and AT&T have agreed to take out licenses on the technology, joining eBay’s Skype division, which last month settled a lawsuit filed by the company. Financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Last December, the company had sued Comcast, Cablevision and eBay over the same technology and sought damages and royalties amounting to $300m.

The company has licensed its technology to Time Warner’s AOL, VoIP network provider Vonage Holdings, Sprint Nextel and GotVoice.