Microsoft and Motorola: The patent war continues
Apple sues Android manufactures, Google buys Motorola mostly for its patents, Microsoft sues Motorola, devices get banned from countries, and Samsung lawyers can’t tell the iPad from a Samsung Tablet.
So on and so forth; the patent wars took another turn today as Motorola’s settlement offer was rejected by Microsoft. What does this mean to you and me? Judges have already ruled in the favor of Motorola in the past, and vice versa. One judge already ruled that Xbox infringed on many of Motorola’s patents.
This is a back and forth battle that could cause major repercussions for the U.S market. An all-out Xbox and Android sales ban has already been mentioned by a judge.
The Judges presiding over these cases are becoming increasingly inpatient with these battles and many of them don’t understand the basic differences in technology, so they rule in favor in indictments and sales bans.
Motorola is also under fire for its use of Microsoft’s ActiveSync technology on some Android phones. Microsoft has already filed and settled patent disputes with other companies for their unlicensed use of ActiveSync, but since the courts have already ruled that Microsoft infringed four Motorola patents, they no longer have a strong position to negotiate a settlement.
Motorola offered to pay 33 cents per ActiveSync-using phone sold, compared to the six to seven dollars Microsoft would need to pay per Xbox 360 under the 2.25% royalty fee. It’s a big difference from the 7% fee that Judge David Shaw argued Microsoft should be paying back in April.
Both companies seem to expect to get a ruling in their favor. “While we welcome any good faith settlement effort,” said Microsoft deputy general counsel Horacio Gutierrez, “it’s hard to apply that label to a demand that Microsoft pay royalties to Google far in excess of market rates, that refuses to license all the Microsoft patents infringed by Motorola, and that is promptly leaked to the press.”
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