Lumia phones infringe patents owned by InterDigital

Apr 28, 2015 06:27 GMT  ·  By

The United States isn’t quite the most successful market for Microsoft as far as Windows Phone devices are concerned, but sales for the company in the country are on the rise and forecasts are optimistic to say the least with Windows 10 and new flagship models on their way.

And yet, a recent ruling of the United States International Trade Commission judge Theodore Essex could put a halt to Microsoft’s Windows Phone plans for its domestic market.

According to a report by recode, Microsoft’s Lumia devices are infringing two patents owned by InterDigital, so they could be banned completely in the United States.

This isn’t the first time when firms file complaints at the ITC to obtain bans on products that allegedly violate their patents, in an attempt to receive more money from companies that are selling these products.

InterDigital’s two wireless cellular patents are said to be used on the majority of Lumia phones, so an import ban that could prevent the infringement from taking place again in the future is now being considered by the judge if the two companies do not reach an agreement.

Lawsuit inherited from Nokia

InterDigital’s legal dispute was started in 2007 against Nokia, the company that Microsoft purchased last year, so the lawsuit is now going on against the software giant. Previously, ITC rejected InterDigital’s claims, but as the aforementioned source notes, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decided in 2012 to send the case back to the ITC.

A decision in this case is expected to be provided by August, but Microsoft says that it has no reason to worry about this because patent lawsuits are not new and they have “a successful track record challenging patent assertion entities that misuse industry standards.”

Obviously, the best and the easiest way to drop the lawsuit is a potential deal between InterDigital and Microsoft, and don’t be too surprised if such an agreement is reached sometime in the coming months because the Redmond-based software giant cannot risk a ban in the United States.

At least, not with such exciting times ahead.