Lucent has taken legal action against Micron Technology for allegedly refusing to pay it royalties for the last two years. At the heart of the dispute are a series of Lucent-ownned patent which it claims were licensed to the memory chip company by Lucent's former parent, AT&T, in 1988. Lucent says it took over ownership of those patents in 1996 when it was spun off from AT&T. The following year, it claims, Micron stopped paying licensing fees on its use of those patents. In redress, Lucent wants $7 million in unpaid fees. Of course, it emerges that Micron is already claiming that Lucent is infringing upon six of its patents, so the same action from Lucent was always on the cards. And "Lucent is in reasonable apprehension of imminent suit," the company's suit says. Micron denies Lucent's claims -- and vice versa. ®