It looks like another patent case has returned to the news. This case involves Motorola Mobility, or in this case Google and Microsoft. This latest decision has a judge ruling that a few of the Motorola Mobility patents are invalid. The ruling was brought down by U.S. District Judge James Robart in Seattle this past Thursday.
This case has Motorola looking for up to $4 billion per year for wireless and video patents. On the flip side, Microsoft had returned saying that Motorola deserves much less — in the ballpark of $1 million per year. Basically, a case where both sides are very far apart in term of a number.
As for the latest decision in this case, the judge ruled that three of the Motorola Mobility patents are invalid. The key here, only portions of these patents are invalid, which basically just means that they cannot be ruled out entirely. Specifically, as was pointed out by Reuters, Judge Robart ruled that parts of those patents are “indefinite,” which means “Motorola’s patent language did not distinctly articulate the invention.”
The remaining parts of those patents are still active in the lawsuit and a decision is expected to arrive sometime during the next several weeks. All said and done, this could be an important decision for Google who purchased Motorola for $12.5 billion giving them 17,000 patents. Should the ruling favor Microsoft, this means Google will have less bargaining power when it comes to negotiating future deals with other companies.
[via phoneScoop]
Microsoft is pathetic. And Apple too.
It hates Motorola because MSFT’s goal was to buy Motorola, kill it and use its patent portfolio AGAINST ANDROID. That was an amazingly ugly plan. Even uglier than the Apple’s one: to destroy Android brand.
Google ($50B of cash) bought tech pioneer Motorola for $12.5B ($3B of cash) = $9.5B deal.
Google sold Motorola’s HOME division for $2.35B = $7.15B deal.
Motorola has one of the largest IP portfolios in the tech industry: 17,000 patents + 7,500 applications and a 83 year history on innovations and wireless industry inventions = PRICELESS deal.
_____________________________________________________________________
Motorola deal It’s NOT about countersuing pathetic ugly Apple and Microsoft for Google!
Software company Microsoft buys software VoIP client+brand Skype for $8.5B = sh*t deal.
Hansel and Gretel were not lost. Someone led them to take a bite out of the Ginger Bread House. Given that it was a big bite from just above the cornerstone, I suspect that some organization, with a big-data understanding of software patents guided that bite.
The Ginger Bread House of software patents is about to fall with help from lawyers flailing away at the targets that Google’s lawyers intentionally presented to them.
The judge is situated in the back yard of Microsoft’s head office, what other result did you expect. This case has a long way to run so take the judgement with a pinch of salt
No company in history will ever win against the likes of Microsoft and Apple in their own back yard. The favoritism is so blatant it almost comical. The credibility of these judges are also questionable based on these types of rulings. If it was Apple that owned these patents and were using them against, let’s say, Samsung?.. You can bet they would be valid and the judges would have no problem ruling in favor of Apple. Makes me sick to my stomach how corrupt the yanks and the system they operate really are.