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Microsoft sues Motorola (again), this time over Xbox-related patents

Just over a month after suing Motorola over smartphone patents, Microsoft is suing Motorola again. This time, the complaint is focused on wireless and video coding patents that are used by the Xbox team.
Written by Mary Jo Foley, Senior Contributing Editor

Just over a month after suing Motorola over smartphone patents, Microsoft is suing Motorola again. This time, the complaint is focused on wireless and video coding patents that are used by the Xbox team.

Microsoft filed a suit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington against Motorola on November 9. The claim: Motorola is charging excessive royalties for its patents.

Here's Microsoft's statement on its action, from a company spokesperson:

"Microsoft filed an action today in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington against Motorola, Inc. for breach of Motorola’s contractual commitments to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to license identified patents related to wireless and video coding technologies under reasonable and non-discriminatory terms and conditions. Those commitments are designed to benefit all parties that rely upon these standards, and Microsoft has been harmed by Motorola’s failure to honor them in recent demand letters seeking royalties from Microsoft."

Microsoft last sued Motorola on October 1, claiming Motorola was infringing on a handful Microsoft smartphone-related patents. The eight patents in question, which Microsoft outlines in both its U.S. District Court and International Trade Commission complaints, are “OS-related and (related to) Exchange ActiveSync.” The patents are all used in Motorola's Android smartphones, according to Microsoft.

Update: Patent expert Florian Mueller has a lot more details on the latest patent suit by Microsoft involving Motorola. He notes that the patents in question also pertain to smartphones, not just Xbox.

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