Yet another chapter in the patent lawsuit drama series. This time, Microsoft is suing Motorola in an attempt to prevent Android phones from being sold in the United States. Microsoft claims that Motorola’s Android phones infringe on several patents.
The violations include ways to synchronise calendars/contacts and notifying applications of changes to signal strength. Microsoft is looking to seek assistance from the International Trade Commission to prevent Motorola’s products from reaching the United States, considering that Motorola’s products are made overseas.
Google announced mid August that the company would be acquiring Motorola for $12.5 billion dollars, which is the company’s biggest purchase ever. To make things even sweeter, this acquisition gives Google 17,000 new patents relating to wireless technology. Perhaps this is why Microsoft is lashing out.
Not that long ago, Motorola’s CEO Sanjay Jha stated that even though the company is focused on Google’s Android smartphone platform, he is still open to working with Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform later down the line if the right conditions were met. “I think we’re completely open to the notion of Windows as a platform. Clearly, all of our focus today is on Android,” Jha stated. Apparently, Motorola is interested in forming a partnership with Microsoft if an appropriate deal was made similar to the one Microsoft made with Nokia not that long ago. But this new lawsuit makes us ponder if this partnership would ever take place.
Motorola has yet to issue a statement regarding the lawsuit.
