Alcatel-Lucent’s grand plan to collect US$1.52 billion from Microsoft over MP3 patent infringements may have derailed now that a federal judge has reversed a ruling against the Redmond-based company. The reversal could be good news for other companies that use MP3 technology, including Apple and Sony.

Alcatel-Lucent claimed that even though Microsoft previously paid Fraunhofer, the company that co-developed the technology with Bell Labs (later Lucent), $16 million for a license to use the technology, the company was still violating Lucent’s patents. The court originally agreed, but on Monday reversed that ruling, according to Computerworld.

Judge Rudi Brewster from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in San Diego stated that Microsoft did not violate one of the patents in question, and the other involved Fraunhofer. Since the Germany-based company was not involved in the suit, the judge ruled that the court did not have jurisdiction to make a ruling.

An Alcatel-Lucent spokesperson stated "This reversal of the judge’s own pre-trial and post-trial rulings is shocking and disturbing, especially since -- after a three-week trial and four days of careful deliberation -- the jury unanimously agreed with us, and we believe their decision should stand."

The reversal means other companies that assumed they held legitimate licenses from Fraunhofer to incorporate MP3 technology in their own products are less likely to face lawsuits from Alcatel-Lucent over the patents.

These companies aren’t, however, completely in the clear yet. Alcatel-Lucent plans to appeal the reversal, leaving a chance that it could still come after other companies in the future.