The following is an excerpt from Dan Levine | September 29, 2012 | msnbc.com |
A U.S. appeals court on Friday ruled that Google’s Motorola Mobility unit cannot enforce a patent injunction that it obtained against Microsoft in Germany, diminishing Google’s leverage in the ongoing smartphone patent wars.
The injunction would have barred Microsoft from “offering, marketing, using or importing or possessing” in Germany some products including the Xbox 360 and certain Windows software.
The ruling against the German injunction came from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
Microsoft deputy general counsel David Howard said the company was pleased with the ruling. A representative for Google’s Motorola unit declined to comment.
Brian Love, a professor at Santa Clara Law school in Silicon Valley, said the decision helps Microsoft counteract a favorable dynamic for Google in Germany.
“To some extent Germany has a reputation as place you can go and get an injunction relatively easy,” Love said.
The current Xbox 360 is the market-leading console in the United States. Microsoft is expected to unveil its next generation Xbox video game console in 2013.
Microsoft has said that Motorola’s patents are standard, essential parts of its software and that Motorola is asking far too much in royalties for their use. Google closed on its $12.5 billion Motorola Mobility acquisition this year.
To read more visit: msnbc.com
