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Microsoft won a small victory in its patent battle with Motorola. A ruling handed down by The Munich Regional Court said Motorola violated a text messaging patent held by Microsoft. The patent describes a method of “communicating multi-part messages between cellular devices using a standardized interface.” Microsoft can enforce a ban on the sale of Motorola Android phones in Germany, but the Redmond company will have to post a 25 million euro ($31.3 million) bond first.
As expected, Microsoft is pleased with the ruling. Microsoft deputy general counsel David Howard said in a statement,
“We’re pleased the court agreed today that Motorola has infringed Microsoft’s intellectual property, and we hope Motorola will be willing to join other Android device makers by taking a license to our patents. ”
Motorola was less enthusiastic about the outcome and told Reuters it “”We expect a written decision from the court on June 1 and upon review, will explore all options including appeal. ”
In another separate case also decided today in a German court, Motorola was found not to be infringing on a localization patent owned by Microsoft.
[Via Reuters]
About The Author
Kelly Hodgkins
Kelly spent the last four years covering mobile technology at places like BGR, Gizmodo and The Unofficial Apple Weblog. Before writing, she spent a few years working with and teaching others how to use Adobe Flash and Macromedia Director. Even earlier than that, she spent several years as a Ph.D student in Microbiology. When she's not writing, she can be found fishing the lakes and hiking the mountains of Western Maine with her husband and tribe of children. You can follow her on Twitter @kellyhodgkins.
