Motorola Mobility infringing Microsoft SMS patent, rules Munich court

Motorola Mobility has infringed a Microsoft patent related to SMS messaging, according to a ruling in the Munich regional court, which also dismissed a second case related to a localisation patent.

As a result of the regional court judge's ruling, Google-owned Motorola Mobility must now take a licence under Microsoft's Android licensing programme, stop using features invented and patented by Microsoft, or stop selling infringing products in Germany, a Microsoft spokeswoman said.

Microsoft has signed licence agreements for Android with a number of vendors, including Samsung Electronics and HTC, but Motorola Mobility has not agreed to any such deal. Microsoft, therefore, is going after Motorola the best it can, with a number of lawsuits.

Motorola Mobility said it is pleased with the dismissal of the localisation patent case, and is expecting a written decision from the court on June 1 regarding the SMS patent. Upon review, it will explore all options including an appeal. This patent is part of a global dispute initiated by Microsoft, it noted.

The ruling comes right after Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility was finalised on May 22.

When Google announced the deal to acquire Motorola Mobility last year, it said that part of the reasoning behind the move was so that it would be able to better defend Android against legal threats from vendors such as Apple and Microsoft.

That may not have been such a bad idea. Earlier this month Motorola Mobility won an injunction in Germany preventing the distribution of Microsoft products including Windows 7 and the Xbox in Germany. For now, the injunction can't be enforced. Microsoft has appealed the verdict and there is a US court order that prevents Motorola from enforcing it.

The case is related to patents essential to the H.264 video codec standard.