14 DAY TRIAL // Redmond-based software giant Microsoft announced on Friday that it filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission against mobile phone maker Motorola, alleging that the handset vendor is infringing a series of 9 Microsoft patents with its Android-based devices.
According to the company, Motorola's Android-based mobile phones infringe a series of patents related to a various functionalities that are essential to the experience users receive from their devices, such as email or calendar syncing, meeting scheduling, and more.
Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of Intellectual Property and Licensing was the one to announce Microsoft's move.
“Microsoft filed an action today in the International Trade Commission and in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington against Motorola, Inc. for infringement of nine Microsoft patents by Motorola’s Android-based smartphones,” Horacio Gutierrez stated.
“The patents at issue relate to a range of functionality embodied in Motorola’s Android smartphone devices that are essential to the smartphone user experience, including synchronizing email, calendars and contacts, scheduling meetings, and notifying applications of changes in signal strength and battery power,” he continued.
According to Horacio Gutierrez, Microsoft is working hard on driving innovation, and it is also committed to protecting its investments on the area.
“We have a responsibility to our customers, partners, and shareholders to safeguard the billions of dollars we invest each year in bringing innovative software products and services to market. Motorola needs to stop its infringement of our patented inventions in its Android smartphones,” he continued.
Today's smartphones have become more and more powerful, being able to offer experiences similar with those desktop computers can deliver, and the battle for supremacy in this area became fiercer lately.
While handset vendors strive to come up with more appealing hardware configurations, software companies are working on the delivery of more appealing applications and platforms, and Google's Android OS is among the most popular solutions on the market at the moment.
However, Microsoft is not the first company to sue a handset maker for alleged patent infringement with Android devices, as Apple did the same a few months ago with Taiwanese phone maker HTC Corporation.
“Our action today merely seeks to ensure respect for our intellectual property rights infringed by Android devices; and judging by the recent actions by Apple and Oracle, we are not alone in this respect,” Horacio Gutierrez stated in a blog post.