By 
Here we go again. Today, in a trial before the International Trade Commission in Washington, the world’s largest software maker, Microsoft, accused Motorola Mobility of infringing on 7 of their patents (thanks in part to Android) and is requesting a halt on imports of several Motorola handsets — namely the Droid 2, Droid X, Cliq XT, Devour, Backflip and Charm. Microsoft’s corporate vice president and deputy general counsel for litigation David Howard had this to say,
“We have a responsibility to our employees, customers, partners and shareholders to safeguard our intellectual property. Motorola is infringing our patents and we are confident that the ITC will rule in our favor.”
Motorola Mobility’s spokeswoman Jennifer Erickson responded with,
“We have also brought legal actions of our own in the U.S. and in Europe to address Microsoft’s large scale of infringement of Motorola Mobility’s patents.”
The trial mostly focused on details regarding key smartphone functions like synchronizing emails, calendars and contacts; schedule meetings; and notify applications of changes in signal strength and battery power. Call me crazy but wouldn’t that mean every smartphone on the planet would also be infringing on these patents? Let’s hope of Motorola’s 17,000 patents, some of those can be used to defend themselves. The findings in the case are scheduled to be released on Nov. 4th and the FTC hopes to complete their investigation by March 5th.
[Via Bloomberg]
These patent infringement filings are really depressing. Mainly because the majority of the world cannot understand how absurd software tech patents can be and unless familiar with technology will probably never understand. I mean how can you patent the use of syncing… anything? I mean you should be able to patent the software you built that does it as well as that software’s source code. But to patent the ability for a phone to sync is like patenting the ability for a phone to have multiple brightness settings or even a backlight in itself so that you can see in the day time (which I am sure is patented as well).
What is crazy is different patents can cover only smartphone like devices, or be as broad as stating any portable device, (which includes tablets, even though they have only in recent years started to become big, and were probably never even thought of when the patent was originated.
/end pointless rant
The world is a sick, sick place. o_o
I really really wish the anti competitiveness would just go away….as an educated gadget consumer, I am insulted.
Google…. use Motorola to make devices with no OS installed by default… no physical buttons (or a new universal sytle of buttons that can be used by either operating system ‘just make the icons universal I mean’)…. and when you sell a device… give them the option to install either operating system they would like (WP7 or Android) even offer to pay MS to let you do it…
Not a single person will install their Mobile OS…. and your ass is covered… because all the customer did was install some open source software on their new phone…
Don’t stop working with other manufacturers…. just do this to prove a point…
Let Sammy and HTC and LG keep using your platform… but do this… not out of necessity.. but to prove a point and OPEN some eyes.
P.S. Chris – Thanks for all your great Youtube Channel Videos.
All thanks to Apple for getting these patent infringement lawsuits started. What assholes.
Wow… you really think Apple are to blame for starting patent infringement lawsuits..
Talk about blind hate !!!!!!!!
explain
Apple absolutely started this BS
Another day another lawsuit! Its getting ridiculous now, cant manufacturers just fight opposition with new and improved handsets?? Im sure some of this has a lil to do with Google’s acquisition of motorola, microsoft thinking they can hurt both motorola and google’s android! Im sorry, but WP7 is just meh in comparison to android and hate to say it…….ios (washes mouth out immediately). Still, this one probably wont reach the status that the Apple v Samsung suit has. Just waiting upon somebody to sue over how a battery is inserted in the back of a phone lol, even apple cant touch that one!
Conveniently comes after Google buy Moto and Microsoft realised that WP7 on a Moto phone will no longer happen!
uh, no, this is the same lawsuit of microsoft vs motorola but it is now in washington. Microsoft motion to move it to another jurisdiction was successful.
ROFLMAO!!!…………Microsoft must be quaking in their pants to join in on this childish fiasco especially after Google acquired Motorola. Maybe they are trying to head them off at the pass and ambush them before they start bleeding even more.
Get over it Microsoft and Apple, your days are numbered and the clock is ticking even faster now. You have awaken the giant and not you have to pay the price.
Remember Pearl Harbor???…………..figure it out!!
Bring it on Microsoft.
Besides the only phone still sold on that list is the Droid 2
which is the Global edition. we have the Droid 3 now anyways.
Agreed.
Cliq XT, Devour, Backflip and Charm…. Maybe they should loose this one as punishment for putting out gar-bage like those phones :-)
This shat is getting old.
The only entities benefiting from all this are the lawfirms.
Effective immediately…… I’m going to patent the idea, not the process mind you, but the idea to make or receive a phone call. That should cover just about everybody. I’m going to sue everybody if you don’t pay me!
Sounds absurd right? So do some of these patents that some bureacrats approved.
Reminder: earlier this month, Google acquired 1000 patents from IBM.
IBM is one of the world’s largest and oldest patent holders.
IBM has a long memory.
IBM has no particular love for Microsoft. (OS/2, Microsoft, bad faith, double dealing, backstabbing, etc)
Do you suppose that those 1000 patents were chosen at random?
you mean like a Woot bag of crap? :)
In the 60s Gene Roddenberry copy protected all these ideas in the pads, and phones. So Majel Barrett needs to sue the snot out of all of them.
Majell Barrett died December 18th, 2008 so it’s unlikely that she will join the suing frenzy.
Apple needs to sue Microsoft. I’m pretty sure they have a patent on suing Android OEMs in order to block the import/sale of their devices.
This is disgusting people are tired of the bs, grown people acting like children, STOP the madness and get over yourself
“Motorola is infringing our patents and we are confident that the ITC will rule in our favor.”
I’m quite confident that there was probably a sentence after that which read:
“…because they [ITC] will receive excessive amounts of money from us.”
The noose is tightening around Microsoft’s neck, they’re kicking and screaming but the end is in sight.
Their last chance at survival is to innovate, but it’s been a long time since that’s happened at Microsoft.
B.S. M$ you say the same thing bout HTC now you’re taking 15$ for every activation. Stop being like APPLE.
Since this looks like a mutual nuclear distruction uncontrolable war, it’s better to just eleminate all cell phones from planet earth and start using fixed phones again ;)
I’ll pick an android version anyway :P
BTW since this software patent war is just in US why not just shut down all cell phones in US and let the rest of the world in peace, maybe EU could ask Google to relocate it’s business to EU and forget about troubled parts of the world…
How long ago were some of these phones launched and they want to sue now? Especially after the acquisition? Damn these companies love to play dirty.