Tag Archives: international trade commission

May 31

Microsoft wins US import ban on Motorola’s ...

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The US International Trade Commission today ordered an import ban on Motorola Mobility Android products, agreeing with Microsoft that the devices infringe a Microsoft patent on “generating meeting requests” from a mobile device.

The import ban stems from a December ruling that the Motorola Atrix, Droid, and Xoom (among 18 total devices) infringed the patent, which Microsoft says is related to Exchange ActiveSync technology. Today, the ITC said in a “final determination of violation” that “the appropriate form of relief in this investigation is a limited exclusion order prohibiting the unlicensed entry for consumption of mobile devices, associated software and components thereof covered by claims 1, 2, 5, or 6 of the United States Patent no. 6,370,566 and that are manufactured abroad by or on behalf of, or imported by or on behalf of, Motorola.”

ITC rulings such as this one are subject to a 60-day Presidential review period, during which time Motorola is required to post a bond of 33¢ “per device entered for consumption.” Motorola is on the verge of being acquired by Google, with the acquisition having been approved by every jurisdiction except China.

You might say Microsoft and Motorola are even now, as Motorola recently won a sales ban in Germany on Windows 7 PCs and the Xbox 360, although that ruling is still pending.

Microsoft has won patent licensing deals from nearly every Android device maker, with Motorola being the notable exception. in response to today’s ruling, Microsoft immediately issued a statement saying, “we hope that now Motorola will be willing to join the vast majority of Android device makers selling phones in the US by taking a license to our patents.”

We’ve asked Google and Motorola for a response to today’s ruling, but have not heard back just yet.

UPDATE: Motorola sent us a response noting that Microsoft’s initial suit asserted nine patents, which were whittled down to just one. “Although we are disappointed by the Commission’s ruling that certain Motorola Mobility products violated one patent, we look forward to reading the full opinion to understand its reasoning. Motorola Mobility will not experience any impact in the near term, as the Commission’s ruling is subject to a $0.33/per unit bond during the 60 day Presidential review period. we will explore all options including appeal.”

Microsoft wins US import ban on Motorola’s Android devices

May 03

Nokia targets HTC and RIM with range of patent ...

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2 May 2012 Last updated at 16:43 Share this page Nokia's lawsuits follow the launch of its Windows Phone-based handsets

Nokia has filed a series of lawsuits against two rival handset makers, Taiwan-based HTC and Blackberry-maker RIM, which has its HQ in Canada.

The Finnish firm said the companies had failed to pay a licence to use its intellectual properties.

The claims cover technologies including power management, application stores, navigation and data encryption.

Nokia previously forced Apple to pay for its innovations, but has largely been dormant in the recent patent wars.

The Lumia-handset maker said it was also suing a third company in this latest action: the American television and tablet maker Viewsonic.

The suits have been filed in the US Federal District Court of Delaware, the US International Trade Commission and Germany's Regional Court in Dusseldorf.

Enforcement

In total, Nokia said 45 of its patents were at stake.

"we have already licensed our standards essential patents to more than 40 companies," said Louise Pentland, the firm's chief legal officer.

"We'd rather that other companies respect our intellectual property and compete using their own innovations but, as these actions show, we will not tolerate the unauthorised use of our inventions."

Neither HTC nor RIM would comment at this stage. A statement from Viewsonic said it was "aware of this legal action," adding, "we are taking appropriate measures to protect our interests".

One patent lawyer told the BBC that Nokia appeared to have closely watched how other lawsuits had been handled before launching its own action.

"Nokia has been focused on getting its new range of Windows Phone handsets out, and they may now want to send a message that they have some strong intellectual property – particularly as they have been in the business so long – and they are willing to assert it," said Andrew Alton from Urquhart-Dykes and Lord.

"But their language emphasises that they are willing to strike deals in order to prevent allegations of anti-competitive behaviour similar to the ones that Samsung and Motorola Mobility now face from the European Commission over the way they have enforced their standards-related patents."

Nokia targets HTC and RIM with range of patent lawsuits

Dec 31

ITC initial ruling: Motorola Atrix, Droid, Xoom ...

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The International Trade Commission has given Microsoft a partial victory with its initial ruling on the patent infringement claims the software giant lodged against Motorola in October 2010. the ITC judge has determined that Motorola infringes four separate claims in one of the seven (originally nine) patents that Microsoft named in its complaint. the judge has not found evidence of infringement of the other six patents.

Following this preliminary decision, the ITC will review its findings and produce a final ruling on or before April 20, 2012. With the final ruling, the trade commission may ban the import of affected Motorola products, as it chose to do Monday after ruling that HTC was infringing on Apple’s technology.

“We are pleased with the ITC’s initial determination finding Motorola violated four claims of a Microsoft patent,” Microsoft Corporate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel David Howard said in a statement. “As Samsung, HTC, Acer and other companies have recognized, respecting others’ intellectual property through licensing is the right path forward.”

Horacio E. Gutiérrez, another Microsoft Corporate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Tweeted that 18 Motorola products are affected by the ruling, including the Atrix and Droid smartphones, as well as the Xoom tablet.

Motorola claimed to be happy with the findings. Speaking to AllThingsD, Motorola General Counsel Scott Offer said “We view it as a huge win” since Microsoft is “down to one patent” from the original nine named.

The infringed patent is 6,370,566, “Generating meeting requests and group scheduling from a mobile device.” this is an important task for many corporate smartphone users, and with Motorola deemed to be infringing four separate claims of the patent, working around Microsoft’s intellectual property may prove problematic.

ITC initial ruling: Motorola Atrix, Droid, Xoom infringe on Microsoft patent