Among the many patent cases currently ongoing between Motorola and Microsoft is one in US District Court in the state of Washington concerning standards-essential WiFi and h.264 patents. AllThingsD reports that while Motorola was requesting billions in royalties for the technology it owns, Judge James Robart -- who invalidated a number of its patent claims a few months ago -- ruled it's entitled to around $1.8 million per year. The reason given? There are so many patents that are part of the h.264 standard, that if every patent were licensed at the amount Motorola sought, those fees would be more than the current cost of the Xbox 360. And, Judge Robart found that Motorola hadn't proven its patents were more valuable than those of other companies included in the same pool. All 207 pages of the decision are available beyond the source link if need more info on the hows and whys of today's decision. ATD also has quotes from each company, and while Microsoft called it a good decision for consumers, Motorola chose to acknowledge the decision, but didn't hint at any reaction or future moves.

Filed under: Gaming, Microsoft

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Via: AllThingsD

Source: Court ruling [PDF]

If you thought the patent war between Motorola (Google) and Apple was already over, you were mistaken. Though, today's decision by the ITC to toss Moto's complaint against Cupertino regarding the use of sensors to control the interface of a phone, might be one of the final blows struck. The claim over patent No. 6,246,862, was the last patent-in-suit standing from its 2010 complaint against Apple. Now it's been completely invalidated. The decision can still be appealed in the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and we can almost guarantee the company will take advantage of that option. (In fact, it already is with previous decisions that did not go in its favor.) With courts tossing out complaints left and right, and some companies even willingly withdrawing them, we certainly keep hoping that the era patent Risk is coming to an end.

The ITC tossing out yet another complaint is a big loss for Motorola and Google. But, Apple has lost plenty of its own suits recently. It seems that both sides are settling into a stalemate. And ultimately pushing these competitors to innovate in the market instead of the courtroom is good for consumers.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Apple, Google

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Source: FOSS Patents, ITC (PDF)