Yesterday's federal jury verdict ordering Microsoft to pay Alcatel-Lucent $1.5 billion for infringing its MP3 audio patents — sure to be appealed and unlikely to be resolved for years — has implications not just for the world of digital media but also for the rapidly developing landscape of intellectual property. The chief IP strategist at Microsoft (which is also currently facing off against AT&T in the US Supreme Court in an unrelated patent dispute) is none other than Marshall Phelps, the man who created IBM's muscular licensing operation in the 1990s and along with a small group of other pioneers has helped to create the current IP climate. Lucent, meanwhile, is heir to the Bell Labs IP tradition and is no slouch itself at strategic IP management. For more on the IP pioneers — and how investors and corporate strategists are operating in the IP realm these days — see this week's Deal, which has a cover package on IP issues. — Ken Klee

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