Microsoft Settles Another LawsuitMicrosoft Settles Another Lawsuit

Microsoft says it will pay $23.3 million to Be Inc. to settle an antitrust lawsuit that alleged it illegally closed Be out of deals with PC manufacturers.

The Sept. 5 settlement, in which Microsoft admitted no wrongdoing, continues an effort by Microsoft to use its cash stockpile to resolve legal actions against it. The agreement also effectively closes the door on Be, an operating system developer founded by a former Apple Computer executive that's currently closing down its business.

Be, founded by former Apple exec Jean-Louis Gassee in 1990, filed a private antitrust suit against Microsoft in February 2002 in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. The action sought recovery of unspecified damages from Microsoft and claimed the software company negotiated exclusive deals with PC makers that shut Be out of contracts. In August 2001, Be sold its engineering staff and technology to Palm Inc. for $11 million. Later that year, Be shareholders approved a dissolution plan.

For Microsoft, the settlement is the latest in an effort to clear its legal docket. In May, Microsoft agreed to pay AOL-Time Warner $750 million to settle an antitrust suit AOL had filed on behalf of its Netscape division. Microsoft this year has also resolved several patent infringement suits against it.

But Microsoft still faces some 30 patent suits, as well as antitrust actions by Sun Microsystems, the European Union, and others. Microsoft management has said the company's more than $49 billion in cash and short-term investments are necessary to work its way through these legal actions.