A US judge has ruled that Motorola cannot enforce a sales ban on the Xbox 360. Motorola wanted such a ban because it is currently in a legal battle with Microsoft over the payment of license fees for use of Motorola’s patents.
According to US judge James Robart, a sales ban is not an issue because Microsoft has already indicated that it is willing to pay license fees, the only question is how high that amount should be. Motorola won the right to enforce a ban on Xbox 360 in two previous lawsuits in both the United States and Germany, but Motorola was unable to do so until Judge Robart ruled, reports the BBC. Robart’s decision applies to both the United States and Germany.
Motorola is demanding a hefty sum of money from Microsoft because the Xbox 360 would infringe on several patents related to Wi-Fi and the h.264 codec, among other things. According to Microsoft, this concerns patents that must be offered under so-called frand conditions, because they are seen as essential and standard. Motorola disagreed and wanted billions of dollars a year for it.
The case is not yet over with the judge’s ruling; it will now be examined which license amount is considered fair and reasonable, possibly setting a precedent for comparable lawsuits.