AT DEADLINE.

HEWLETT-Packard Co. 009122532 HPQ; GATEWAY Inc. GTW; ORACLE Corp. 144709193 ORCL; MICROSOFT Corp. 081466849 MSFT; BHARTI Airtel Ltd.

The article presents news briefs on the U.S. computer industry as of March 2004. Hewlett-Packard Co. filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in San Diego, California accusing Gateway Inc. of infringing on six patents related to computers and servers. The company claims that Gateway had licensed some of the patents until 1999. In a separate news, the inspector general at the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs warned that the agency's installation of a new financial system faces possible delays and cost overruns because of project management shortcomings. The system is based on Oracle Corp. applications and budgeted at $472 million. Meanwhile, Microsoft Corp. will introduce a technology preview kit for an upgrade of its Windows CE embedded operating system due late 2004. Windows CE 5.0 will make it easier for developers to add security features and voice-over Internet protocol client software to embedded devices and thin clients. In another news, IBM said that its Indian subsidiary has signed a 10-year outsourcing deal valued at up to $750 million with Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd., a telecommunications services provider in New Delhi, India. IBM will manage Bharti's hardware, software, and information technology services needs.