Motorola won a ruling against Microsoft today, as a U.S. International Trade Commission judge, David Shaw, found that Microsoft"s Xbox 360 console infringes on four patents owned by Motorola regarding H.264 video encoding, Bloomberg reported today. A fifth patent under question was not infringed upon, the judge found.
The ruling isn"t final, however, as Shaw"s decision must be reviewed by a six-member commission, which could then block imports of any Microsoft products found to be in violation of Motorola"s patents (in this case, Microsoft"s Xbox 360). According to the Bloomberg report, Motorola"s complaint and Shaw"s decision are as follows:
Motorola Mobility contends that Microsoft is infringing two patents that cover aspects of an industry standard for video decoding, two for Wi-Fi technology and a fifth patent on a way that to establish communication between the Xbox and accessories. The second Wi-Fi patent wasn’t infringed, and one aspect of one of the video-coding patents was invalid, the judge said.
Motorola"s lawsuit is largely believed to be a retaliatory action against Microsoft, which has been attempting to strike licensing agreements with companies that sell Android-powered phones that potentially infringe on Microsoft patents. Microsoft and Motorola are currently in a patent-infringement dispute over the latter"s Android-powered phones, as the two companies do not have a licensing agreement in place, unlike many other Android device manufacturers, including HTC and Samsung.
Microsoft previously won a ruling against Motorola from a federal judge in Seattle, who granted a Microsoft request to block an impending injunction from Motorola which would have forced the company to stop selling the Xbox 360 and Windows in Germany. Motorola is requesting a 2.25 percent royalty for any Microsoft products using the patents in question.