Motorola Devices Infringe on Microsoft Patent, Munich Court Says

A Munich court today ruled that Android-based Motorola devices infringe on a Microsoft messaging patent.

The patent in question covers "communicating multi-part messages between cellular devices using a standardized interface."

"We're pleased the court agreed today that Motorola has infringed Microsoft's intellectual property, and we hope Motorola will be willing to join other Android device makers by taking a license to our patents," David Howard, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel at Microsoft, said in a statement.

In a statement, Motorola said "we expect a written decision from the court on June 1st and upon review, will explore all options including appeal. This is one element of a global dispute initiated by Microsoft."

As patent blogger Florian Mueller pointed out, it would be quite difficult for Motorola to alter its Android-based devices to avoid infringing on Microsoft's patent.

"Android apps that make use of the Android's messaging layer would have to be rewritten, and some functionality that Android used to provide to app developers would have to be implemented by the affected applications themselves," he wrote in a blog post.

The way Microsoft sees it, Motorola can either sign on to license Microsoft patents or lose the right to sell devices that include the infringing patent in Germany.

The ruling comes about a week after the International Trade Commission (ITC) on Android-based Motorola devices that infringe on a Microsoft-held patent covering technology for "generating meeting requests and group scheduling from a mobile device."

Recently, that 70 percent of all Android smartphones sold in the U.S. were covered under Microsoft's patent portfolio.

In April, meanwhile, the European Commission formally into Motorola. The investigation was prompted by complaints from Apple and Microsoft, which accused Motorola of suing over "essential" patents rather than trying to work out licensing deals.