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Microsoft Xbox 360 found to infringe Motorola patents in preliminary ITC ruling

P

planar1280

Banned
A judge at the US International Trade Commission has just ruled that Microsoft's Xbox 360 infringes five of Motorola's patents. The ruling isn't unexpected, since many of the patent cover H.264 video encoding, which is a standard — the ITC wasn't persuaded by Microsoft's argument that Motorola will "kill video on the web" by failing its obligation to license the patents under fair and reasonable terms. The ruling is preliminary and subject to review by a full panel of ITC judges, so there will be little immediate impact, but Motorola's strategy of litigating with standard-related patents seems to be paying early dividends even as it invites international scrutiny.
Click to expand...

http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/23/2...ge-motorola-patents-in-preliminary-itc-ruling
 
B

bigtroyjon

Member
Yeah, MS has basically already conceded this point. The real drama is about the amount of money the licensing is going to cost.
 
B

BrainZEROX

Member
Well, MS did send its lawyers to get money from each Android cell phone sold. Of course Motorola (read Google) would eventually react... You mess with my business, I'll mess with yours.
 
W

watership

Member
From the Verge comments. The money they're asking for is insane.
ac2D2.png
 
M

MrNyarlathotep

Banned
Seems a bit rich for MS to be complaining about FRAND licencing when they demand licencing fees from Android to cover patents you're not allowed to know about unless you sign an NDA.
 
S

smurfx

get some go again
isn't this basically google making microsoft pay for them having to pay so much money to license some patents for android?
 
S

saunderez

Member
smurfx said:
isn't this basically google making microsoft pay for them having to pay so much money to license some patents for android?
Click to expand...

It seems like that's the purpose. However if the Samsung v Apple FRAND lawsuits are any indication Motorola will quickly find you can't use FRAND patents as leverage like this. The FR part of FRAND stands for Fair and Reasonable and it's pretty easy to see why Microsoft thinks the asking price is unfair and unreasonable given other licensing deals in the same area.
 
H

Hero of Legend

Member
O_O I thought it was a gag that Wario64 was a sort of "unbannable" user hence why he had that tag for ages or something, clearly that was false.

I've never seen him banned, what did he do?
 
E

Emitan

Member
Hero of Legend said:
O_O I thought it was a gag that Wario64 was a sort of "unbannable" user hence why he had that tag for ages or something, clearly that was false.

I've never seen him banned, what did he do?
Click to expand...

First post in this thread. He was threadshitting.


Seems stupid Motorola is even attempting this.
 
D

DopeyFish

Not bitter, just unsweetened
fyi

microsoft was never disputing they were infringing patents, they are (so is apple)

why?

because when it came to licensing, motorola was not offering their FRAND patents under fair, reasonable or non-discriminatory terms.

this is why EU opened 2 anti-trust investigations against Motorola... (because of complaints from Apple/MS)

there is a very very good chance MS/Apple will pay little to nothing and Motorola/Google will be paying hefty fines
i don't know what moto's legal team is even thinking, to be honest. what they are trying to do (extortion) is very illegal.
 
C

Cipherr

Member
DopeyFish said:
there is a very very good chance MS/Apple will pay little to nothing and Motorola/Google will be paying hefty fines
i don't know what moto's legal team is even thinking, to be honest. what they are trying to do (extortion) is very illegal.
Click to expand...

There is also a very good chance MS/Apple will pay a whole lot. If you dont quite get why they are even trying it, that should be a good clue that you dont really understand the situation completely. The real issue is that there is no clear cut definition of how much money actually IS fair and reasonable. F&R isnt solely decided by past deals, what someone else sells something similar for, or whether or not it would cripple the licensee profit wise.

In any case, this patent trolling shit is pretty bad, and could get out of hand. I really hope the judges decide and put a number on Fair and Reasonable so this shit can end with these standards essential patents. What scares me is if these judgements land in the favor of Samsung and Moto, in terms of how much money they can request and still be considered offering these essential patents on reasonable terms. I mean.... the cost for a lot of shit could go up pretty damn high.
 
B

Boogalogist

Member
Looks like Google's striking back. IIRC, they acquired Motorola with the intention to use Motorola's patents to fire back at Microsoft.

And the patent war continues......
 
M

MrBelmontvedere

Member
hopefully the judge awards a reasonable amount, but the patent system definitely encourages innovation,

what's the point of investing in and developing a new technology if you can't then apply for a patent on it? as they say money makes the world go around, and if they have a legitimate claim to the patent they should get their fair due.
 
S

SapientWolf

Trucker Sexologist
Proelite said:
Why did he get banned?
Click to expand...
Thread shitting. Let this be a lesson to everyone. Poast gud or be executed.

This is a spicy meatball from another linked page in the article:

For example, the EU Commission announced last month that it was formally investigating Samsung for asserting standards patents in European patent litigation, expressing its concern that using these types of patents in litigation could "distort competition" and amount to "an abuse of a dominant position" prohibited by law.
Click to expand...

http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/16/2786970/FRAND-smartphone-industry-apple-motorola-samsung

Governments are now getting involved with standards patent policies. Maybe this mess will eventually get sorted out.
 
E

eastmen

Banned
So I guess no h.264 in windows 8 ?

I wonder how they can get away with the asking amount they are claiming , don't bluray players use h.264 and wouldn't Motorola have to charge MS the same amount they are charging the bluray association to use the patents ?
 
S

saunderez

Member
Paches-EJ- said:
Seeing as they won a preliminary hearing, I am not sure you can call them "stupid".
Click to expand...

Microsoft already admitted they were infringing, they're objecting because of the obscene amount of money Motorola is asking for. By the time this settles Motorola will receive a fraction of the $4bn a year they are expecting. It's pretty easy for Microsoft to show that the terms offered by Motorola are unfair and unreasonable by presenting the terms of licences they currently have for other video formats.
 
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