The US International Trade Commission today ordered an import ban on Motorola Mobility Android products, agreeing with Microsoft that the devices infringe a Microsoft patent on “generating meeting requests” from a mobile device.
The import ban stems from a December ruling that the Motorola Atrix, Droid, and Xoom (among 18 total devices) infringed the patent, which Microsoft says is related to Exchange ActiveSync technology. Today, the ITC said in a “final determination of violation” that “the appropriate form of relief in this investigation is a limited exclusion order prohibiting the unlicensed entry for consumption of mobile devices, associated software and components thereof covered by claims 1, 2, 5, or 6 of the United States Patent No. 6,370,566 and that are manufactured abroad by or on behalf of, or imported by or on behalf of, Motorola.”
ITC rulings such as this one are subject to a 60-day Presidential review period, during which time Motorola is required to post a bond of 33¢ “per device entered for consumption.” Motorola is on the verge of being acquired by Google, with the acquisition having been approved by every jurisdiction except China.
You might say Microsoft and Motorola are even now, as Motorola recently won a sales ban in Germany on Windows 7 PCs and the Xbox 360, although that ruling is still pending.
Microsoft has won patent licensing deals from nearly every Android device maker, with Motorola being the notable exception. In response to today’s ruling, Microsoft immediately issued a statement saying, “we hope that now Motorola will be willing to join the vast majority of Android device makers selling phones in the US by taking a license to our patents.”
We’ve asked Google and Motorola for a response to today’s ruling, but have not heard back just yet.
UPDATE: Motorola sent us a response noting that Microsoft's initial suit asserted nine patents, which were whittled down to just one. "Although we are disappointed by the Commission’s ruling that certain Motorola Mobility products violated one patent, we look forward to reading the full opinion to understand its reasoning. Motorola Mobility will not experience any impact in the near term, as the Commission's ruling is subject to a $0.33/per unit bond during the 60 day Presidential review period. We will explore all options including appeal."
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