A US judge has issued an initial ruling saying Motorola Mobility infringed one Microsoft patent.
The International Trade Commission (ITC) judge ruled six other disputed patents were not infringed. Microsoft has about 30 patents in action against Motorola.
The infringed patent covers a technology for "generating meeting requests and group scheduling from a mobile device," it emerged yesterday.
"It's a fairly interesting patent. The way I understand it (based on the patent document and the claim chart), it enables users to schedule meeting requests from mobile devices," said IP expert Florian Mueller.
"For business users, that's an essential feature. If they're on travel or even just at lunch or in a meeting room, they want to be able to schedule meetings without having to go back to their office. Scheduling meetings is also increasingly popular on some social networks, so it's probably a feature for both enterprise users and consumers."
Motorola was happy six claims were denied, saying it believes Microsoft is infringing its patents too and is in various court battles in the ITC and elsewhere.
"We are very pleased that the majority of the rulings were favorable to Motorola Mobility," Scott Offer, senior vice president and general counsel of Motorola Mobility, said yesterday.
"The ALJ's [Administrative Law Judge's] initial determination may provide clarity on the definition of the Microsoft 566 patent for which a violation was found and will help us avoid infringement of this patent in the US market."
Even though the initial ruling could change when the final ruling is made in 2012, the decision will be something of a setback for Google and its Android operating system.
Microsoft has sought to avoid courts in many cases, instead choosing to chase license fees from Android phone manufacturers.
In October, the Redmond giant announced it had acquired its 10th Android patent license deal. It claimed to have patent license agreements with companies producing half of all Android devices, including HTC and Samsung.
Motorola is not currently one of those companies.
Apple is also fighting numerous Android phone manufacturers in court. Earlier this week, it emerged Apple won a minor skirmish against HTC. The ITC ruled that HTC infringed on one of four patents Apple had disputed.
BT has gone directly for Google's jugular, claiming the internet giant had infringed on six patents in various products, including Android.
-
Bigger salaries, more burnout: Is the CISO role in crisis?In-depth CISOs are more stressed than ever before – but why is this and what can be done?
-
Cheap cyber crime kits can be bought on the dark web for less than $25News Research from NordVPN shows phishing kits are now widely available on the dark web and via messaging apps like Telegram, and are often selling for less than $25.
-
Best Windows Phone apps for 2018Best We list the important Windows Phone apps to help you choose what to download
-
RIP Windows Phone: Microsoft ends support for its dying OS
News Windows Phone 8.1's support finished yesterday - will Windows 10 Mobile last much longer?
-
Facebook messenger not working? Your phone might be too oldNews Certain smartphone users will no longer be able to access their Facebook messages
-
Microsoft patents a foldable Surface phoneNews Will Microsoft build a Surface flip phone?
-
Microsoft axes nearly 3,000 staff from smartphone divisionNews Total number of job cuts, across smartphone hardware and sales, in 2016 climbs to 4,700
-
Microsoft's results show Windows Phone really is dead
News Overall, Microsoft income slumps to $20 billion despite cloud gains
-
Microsoft Lumia 535 reviewReviews This Windows phone is the runt of the litter
-
Is Windows Phone dead?Analysis As revenues plunge, we ask whether anyone can revive Microsoft's mobile enterprise
