Microsoft was handed a legal victory on Friday after the International Trade Commission (ITC) ordered an import ban on Android-based Motorola devices that infringe on a Microsoft-held patent.
The patent in question covers technology for "generating meeting requests and group scheduling from a mobile device." Unless Motorola removes the infringing technology from its gadgets or comes to a licensing agreement with Microsoft, it will not be able to import and sell them in the U.S.
"Microsoft sued Motorola in the ITC only after Motorola chose to refuse Microsoft's efforts to renew a patent license for well over a year," David Howard, Microsoft's corporate vice president and deputy general counsel, said in a statement. "We're pleased the full Commission agreed that Motorola has infringed Microsoft's intellectual property, and we hope that now Motorola will be willing to join the vast majority of Android device makers selling phones in the U.S. by taking a license to our patents."
Motorola said that its shipments would not be affected while it evaluates its options.
"Microsoft started its ITC investigation asserting 9 patents against Motorola Mobility," a Motorola spokeswoman said in an emailed statement. "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.".
The case dates back to Oct. 2010, when Microsoft filed a complaint with the ITC and sued Motorola in a Washington state district court. At issue were nine patents that deal with, among others, sending and receiving e-mail on smartphones, managing calendars and contacts, and managing a phone's memory.
The ITC's decision comes several days after HTC was forced to delay the import of two smartphones into the U.S. thanks to a similar patent battle with Apple. HTC ended up developing a workaround that avoided infringing on Apple's patent, but inspections at U.S. Customs have delayed shipments into the country.
In a Friday post, patent blogger Florian Mueller suggested that "it won't take too long" before Motorola reaches a patent-licensing deal with Microsoft.Recently, Microsoft said that 70 percent of all Android smartphones sold in the U.S. were covered under Microsoft's patent portfolio.
In April, the European Commission formally opened a patent abuse investigation into Motorola. The investigation was prompted by complaints from Apple and Microsoft, which accused Motorola of suing over "essential" patents rather than trying to work out licensing deals.
Editor's Note: This story was updated at 3:26 PM PT with comments from Motorola.
For more from Chloe, follow her on Twitter @ChloeAlbanesius.
