Wednesday, May 2nd 2012

Motorola Wins Sales Injunction in Germany Against Windows 7 and Xbox 360

by
btarunr
 Discuss (26 Comments)
Earlier this morning, Mannheim Regional Court in Germany granted Motorola a sales injunction against Microsoft's Xbox 360, Windows 7, Internet Explorer, and Windows Media Player. It's no more a question of "if", but "when" the judgement will be enforced. When that happens, Motorola can insist on pulling those products off the German market. Motorola holds two technology patents this case is built around: EP0538667 and EP0615384, which are key to getting the H.264 video compression format to work. Motorola is obliged to license these patents to other under "fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory" (FRAND) terms, however, it demanded royalties from Microsoft that would amount to an excess of US $4 billion annually. Microsoft did not accept Motorola's terms, and knocked the doors of regulators claiming Motorola was being unfair and unreasonable with its patents. A case of patent infringement by Motorola is pending against Microsoft, but it is held up as authorities in the US are yet to ascertain Microsoft's allegations (of Motorola being anti-competitive).
Sources: FOSS Patents, Slashgear

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26 Comments on Motorola Wins Sales Injunction in Germany Against Windows 7 and Xbox 360

#2
Frick
Fishfaced Nincompoop
Well the patents seems kinda valid so this shall be interesting to watch.
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#3
sparkyar
knowing that VC1 and H264 share similar compression algorithms, this could make some impact in the bluray industry?
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#4
aayman_farzand
Yea the patent is valid but 4 billions a year? Thats just too much.
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#5
Steevo
First law of suing start high.
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#6
Kantastic
SteevoFirst law of suing start high.
I assume the second rule to be threaten to go higher?
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#7
Octavean
The way I see it, the Xbox 360, Windows 7, IE (they didn’t specify version) and WMP (they left out Microsoft Media Center which definitely has AVC / H.264 / MPEG4 support) can all probably have the AVC / H.264 / MPEG4 support removed. If Microsoft makes an effort to remove said support from these products while leaving users the means to self install it then I see no need for ongoing fees. Microsoft can then pay some one time penalty and be done with it.

Removing the support would be a b!tc# though,….

Maybe this is part of the reason why Microsoft Media Center will be a paid add on for Windows 8.
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#8
THE_EGG
Wow if Microsoft doesn't modify windows 7, I will feel sorry for the people of Germany. Although I suppose Microsoft could just hurry up with Windows 8 :D
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#9
keling
OctaveanThe way I see it, the Xbox 360, Windows 7, IE (they didn’t specify version) and WMP (they left out Microsoft Media Center which definitely has AVC / H.264 / MPEG4 support) can all probably have the AVC / H.264 / MPEG4 support removed. If Microsoft makes an effort to remove said support from these products while leaving users the means to self install it then I see no need for ongoing fees. Microsoft can then pay some one time penalty and be done with it.

Removing the support would be a b!tc# though,….

Maybe this is part of the reason why Microsoft Media Center will be a paid add on for Windows 8.
So when people do start paying for add ons that were free in the earlier versions, should they be angry with with Microsoft or Motorola/Google?

This feels like Microsoft vs the anti virus software vendors pertaining to its plan to use Windows Defender. Microsoft is scorned for the lack of security in the earlier Windows and yet they are also scorned for trying to get full control of security.
Posted on Reply
#10
Solaris17
Super Dainty Moderator
Really this patent trolling needs to stop. I used to live in a world were my kids would be playing the PS 8 and 48 core CPUs in 256bit. Now it seems that with all this stepping on eggshells innovation is going to get sandbagged bad. I totally understand intilectual property and creative thinking etc. but really they should make clearer/universally standardized royalty laws so that these companys can continue doing what the consumer base pays them to do.
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#11
TheMailMan78
Big Member
Solaris17Really this patent trolling needs to stop. I used to live in a world were my kids would be playing the PS 8 and 48 core CPUs in 256bit. Now it seems that with all this stepping on eggshells innovation is going to get sandbagged bad. I totally understand intilectual property and creative thinking etc. but really they should make clearer/universally standardized royalty laws so that these companys can continue doing what the consumer base pays them to do.
This kinda fighting is nothing new man. Its just in the media more as the "winnings" are far higher then they were in the past due to high profit margins. I mean in the early 80's its not like EVERYONE had a computer so any patent infringement would have been in the 100 thousands maybe a few million tops. There were TONS of this fighting back then. Now since tech is so tightly knit into our lives and mesh together a small patent can go into the billions like in this case. Combine that with a slumping economy and you get top news stories in the media about billion dollar patent infringements.
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#12
Easy Rhino
Linux Advocate
motorola still exists?
Posted on Reply
#13
1c3d0g
LMAO...good for them. M$ and the MPEG-LA cartel try to pull this sh!t all the time, now they get a taste of their own medicine. Doesn't feel good now, does it?!? :mad:
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#14
Frick
Fishfaced Nincompoop
Solaris17Really this patent trolling needs to stop. I used to live in a world were my kids would be playing the PS 8 and 48 core CPUs in 256bit. Now it seems that with all this stepping on eggshells innovation is going to get sandbagged bad. I totally understand intilectual property and creative thinking etc. but really they should make clearer/universally standardized royalty laws so that these companys can continue doing what the consumer base pays them to do.
This isn't patent trolling imo. If Motorola have clear patents of the stuff there should at least be talks between them. But that turned sour it seems like.

And remember that MS and others are talking to the Law about them feeling Motorola used the patents in a bad way. So this could go either way.
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#15
Easy Rhino
Linux Advocate
microsoft isn't the only company using those two patents to get H.264 to function. there must be other companies involved?
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#16
Easo
This bullshit is making me angry. Gah...
Posted on Reply
#17
keling
Apple forced Adobe to drop Flash in favor of HTML 5 which supports H.264. Google is in the process of acquiring Motorola, owner of those two patents concerning H.264. Apple and Google both big supporters of HTML5.

Why do I have the feeling that Apple and Google are the ultimate villains? They looked like they are competing each other but I view them as secret partners who maintain huge chunks of consumers respectively to ensure that neither of them will be accused of dominance or invoke anti-trust investigations. Apple will let Google have half of the empire as long as its Android kept the competitors in check, fragmented. The perfect crime?
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#18
treehouse
kelingApple forced Adobe to drop Flash in favor of HTML 5
read more please
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#19
LittleLizard
Am i the only person who's getting tired of these patent infringement wars going on between every member of the IT industry?
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#20
Octavean
kelingApple forced Adobe to drop Flash in favor of HTML 5 which supports H.264. Google is in the process of acquiring Motorola, owner of those two patents concerning H.264. Apple and Google both big supporters of HTML5.

Why do I have the feeling that Apple and Google are the ultimate villains? They looked like they are competing each other but I view them as secret partners who maintain huge chunks of consumers respectively to ensure that neither of them will be accused of dominance or invoke anti-trust investigations. Apple will let Google have half of the empire as long as its Android kept the competitors in check, fragmented. The perfect crime?
Apple simply doesn’t support Adobe Flash in its iOS devices. Flash works fine in Apple’s OS X operating system. Adobe wasn’t forced to drop flash and as far as I know flash is still updated. I do recall hearing something about mobile versions of Flash no longer being updated or “dropped” but this issue wasn’t forced.

Having said that, I’ve found Adobe Flash and PDF reader to be something of a security risk and I am rethinking their place on my Windows 7 systems and OS X systems. Sure one can try and keep them updated but it might be better to just avoid them altogether,….
Posted on Reply
#21
TheMailMan78
Big Member
OctaveanApple simply doesn’t support Adobe Flash in its iOS devices. Flash works fine in Apple’s OS X operating system. Adobe wasn’t forced to drop flash and as far as I know flash is still updated. I do recall hearing something about mobile versions of Flash no longer being updated or “dropped” but this issue wasn’t forced.

Having said that, I’ve found Adobe Flash and PDF reader to be something of a security risk and I am rethinking their place on my Windows 7 systems and OS X systems. Sure one can try and keep them updated but it might be better to just avoid them altogether,….
I find Java to be a bigger security risk then Flash ever has been.
Posted on Reply
#23
Frick
Fishfaced Nincompoop
LittleLizardAm i the only person who's getting tired of these patent infringement wars going on between every member of the IT industry?
Nope. Even in this case where I think the patent and the dispute is kinda valid it's still tiresome. It feels like we're reaching a kind of crescendo.
Posted on Reply
#24
Ravenas
Apple's iPhone 4S was banned earlier last month by Motorolla in Germany... I really am getting sick of Motorolla. Motorolla is in bed with Google, so we'll see how this all plays out.
Posted on Reply
#25
DannibusX
kelingApple forced Adobe to drop Flash in favor of HTML 5 which supports H.264. Google is in the process of acquiring Motorola, owner of those two patents concerning H.264. Apple and Google both big supporters of HTML5.

Why do I have the feeling that Apple and Google are the ultimate villains? They looked like they are competing each other but I view them as secret partners who maintain huge chunks of consumers respectively to ensure that neither of them will be accused of dominance or invoke anti-trust investigations. Apple will let Google have half of the empire as long as its Android kept the competitors in check, fragmented. The perfect crime?
Google is acquiring Motorola Mobility, not Motorola itself. I doubt these patents are involved in the deal.
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