The current feud between Microsoft and Motorola Mobility over the infringement of Motorola's video coding and playback patents in the Xbox 360 rumbled on this week, as Motorola was denied an Xbox ban in the U.S.
A U.S. court ruled earlier this year that Microsoft had indeed infringed on Motorola's patents, and Motorola was told it could pursue a chance to block imports of Xbox 360 hardware in the U.S. and elsewhere.
However, a judge has now ruled that the patents in question are Frand-type innovations -- that is, innovations that are critical to industry standards, and hence should be licensed on fair, reasonable terms, reports the BBC.
Judge James Robart ruled that a ban can therefore not be set in place, although he said that Microsoft will still be required to pay outstanding fees to Motorola.
The ruling echoes a similar judge decision earlier this year, by which it was determined that Motorola would not be able to enforce an Xbox 360 ban in Germany.
No doubt the sane and fair outcome, but it would have been interesting to see how MS would have handled such a ban. Has something like that ever happened to such a high profile product?
