Microsoft Patent | "Microsoft: Motorola's Patent Abuse Will 'Kill Video on the Web'"

By: Gladys Rama
Source: http://rcpmag.com
Category: Microsoft Patent

Microsoft filed a formal complaint against Motorola Mobility -- and, by extension, acquiring company Google -- with the European Commission on Wednesday, charging the handset maker of abusing its standard-essential patents.

This is the latest salvo in the patent feud between the two companies that began two years ago. In October 2010, Microsoft filed suit against Motorola alleging that Motorola's use of the open source, Google-backed Android OS in some of its devices violates Microsoft's patents. A month later, Microsoft filed another suit against Motorola, this time accusing it of charging "excessive" royalties for the use of wireless LAN and H.264 video codec technologies that Microsoft uses in its Xbox gaming console.

In response to the second suit, Motorola accused Microsoft of infringing 16 of Motorola's patents in multiple products. "Motorola Mobility has requested that Microsoft cease using Motorola's patented technology and provide compensation for Microsoft's past infringement," the company said at the time.
Now, Microsoft is accusing Motorola Mobility of charging exorbitant fees for those patents, particularly patents used in online video technologies.

"We have taken this step because Motorola is attempting to block sales of Windows PCs, our Xbox game console and other products," wrote Dave Heiner, Microsoft's deputy general counsel, in a blog post Wednesday. "Their offense? These products enable people to view videos on the Web and to connect wirelessly to the Internet using industry standards."

Heiner's blog post, titled "Google: Please Don't Kill Video on the Web," contends that because the patents in question fall under the category of "standard-essential patents," Motorola should license them under FRAND terms -- "fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory." However, according to Microsoft, the legal actions Motorola has taken against it are designed to either force the offending Microsoft products off the market or strip those products of any technologies that use the disputed patents.

"Motorola is on a path to use standard essential patents to kill video on the Web, and Google as its new owner doesn't seem to be willing to change course," Heiner wrote.

He pointed to Motorola's proposed royalty fees for the video patents as an example of the company's violation of FRAND terms:

"For a $1,000 laptop, Motorola is demanding that Microsoft pay a royalty of $22.50 for its 50 patents on the video standard, called H.264. As it turns out, there are at least 2,300 other patents needed to implement this standard. They are available from a group of 29 companies that came together to offer their H.264 patents to the industry on FRAND terms. Microsoft's patent royalty to this group on that $1,000 laptop?
"Two cents."

Microsoft is no stranger to patent disputes; besides its Android patent suit against Motorola from 2010, it is also currently locked in a legal battle with bookseller Barnes & Noble over the use of Android in Nook e-readers. Microsoft has signed intellectual property deals with 70 percent of Android hardware makers, some of which entail Microsoft receiving royalties from the device makers' use of Android in their products.
However, Heiner maintains Microsoft's approach to patents is different from Google's. "Microsoft is not seeking to block Android manufacturers from shipping products on the basis of standard essential patents. Rather, Microsoft is focused on infringement of patents that it has not contributed to any industry standard," he wrote. "And Microsoft is making its patents -- standard essential and otherwise -- available to all Android manufacturers on fair and reasonable terms."

Microsoft's complaint comes just a few days after Apple also accused Motorola Mobility of violating FRAND practices and less than a month after the EC began an investigation into alleged FRAND violations by Samsung Electronics, particularly Samsung's suit against Apple over the alleged infringement of Samsung patents considered essential to 3G standards. When the EC investigation of Samsung began, Florian Müller, a legal consultant who currently has a contract with Microsoft, noted, "If Samsung's conduct warrants an investigation, so does MMI's [Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc.'s] in my view. I watch the litigation activity of both companies and differences are only gradual."

Microsoft and Apple have both expressed support for FRAND and said that they will not seek injunctions on products that use standard-essential patents. However, Google, which is in the process of acquiring Motorola Mobility, has been more ambivalent. While the Google-Motorola Mobility deal has been approved by the EC and the U.S. Department of Justice, the latter has called out Google for its stance on standard-essential patent licensing:

"During the course of the division's investigation, several of the principal competitors, including Google, Apple and Microsoft, made commitments concerning their SEP [standard-essential patent] licensing policies. The division's concerns about the potential anticompetitive use of SEPs was lessened by the clear commitments by Apple and Microsoft to license SEPs on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, as well as their commitments not to seek injunctions in disputes involving SEPs. Google's commitments were more ambiguous and do not provide the same direct confirmation of its SEP licensing policies."

According to Müller, "While Apple and Microsoft have a clear 'no injunction' policy on standard-essential patents, Motorola tells the courts that a standard-essential patent is a lethal weapon and therefore entitles [the patent owner] to huge royalties and other demands." It remains to be seen whether Google, upon acquiring Motorola Mobility, will continue that company's hard-line approach to patent-protection, or amend it to better fit FRAND standards.

Source: http://rcpmag.com/articles/2012/02/23/microsoft-motorola-patent-abuse-will-kill-video.aspx

Microsoft Patent | "Patent wars: Microsoft takes Motorola to EU"

By: AFP
Source: http://news.asiaone.com
Category: Microsoft Patent

WASHINGTON - Microsoft on Wednesday filed a complaint with the European Commission against Google's Motorola Mobility in the latest salvo in an increasingly bitter patent war between technology giants.
Apple, which is embroiled in a multi-continent patent fight with South Korea's Samsung, lodged a similar complaint against Motorola Mobility with European competition regulators last week.

Both Microsoft and Apple accuse Motorola Mobility, which is being acquired by Google for $12.5 billion (S$15.7 billion), of unfairly using its patent portfolio to try to block competing products.

At issue are what are known as standard essential patents. SEPs are patents that have been identified by technology companies as necessary to allow them to build compatible products.

Motorola Mobility is failing to live up to an industry pledge to license SEPs to rivals on fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms, according to Microsoft and Apple.

"Motorola is attempting to block sales of Windows PCs, our Xbox game console and other products," Microsoft deputy general counsel Dave Heiner said, explaining the software giant's decision to file a complaint with the EC.

"Motorola is demanding that Microsoft take its products off the market, or else remove their standards-based ability to play video and connect wirelessly," Heiner said in a blog post.

"(Motorola) is on a path to use standard essential patents to kill video on the Web, and Google as its new owner doesn't seem to be willing to change course," he said.

A Google spokeswoman dismissed Microsoft's complaint as "another example of their attempts to use the regulatory process to attack competitors.

"It's particularly ironic given their track record in this area and collaboration with patent trolls," the spokeswoman said.

US and European regulators gave the green light last week to Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility.
Google, whose Android software is used by smartphone and tablet computer makers, acquired 17,000 patents with the purchase of the Illinois-based maker of mobile phones, tablet computers and television set-top boxes.

Announcing the acquisition in August, Google chief executive Larry Page said it will "enable us to better protect Android from anti-competitive threats from Microsoft, Apple and other companies."
The US Justice Department's antitrust division, in approving the Google-Motorola Mobility deal, said Google, Apple and Microsoft had made commitments concerning their SEP licensing policies.

"The division's concerns about the potential anticompetitive use of SEPs was lessened by the clear commitments by Apple and Microsoft to license SEPs on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms," it said.

Google's commitments, however, "were more ambiguous and do not provide the same direct confirmation of its SEP licensing policies," the department said. Heiner said Motorola Mobility "has refused to make its patents available at anything remotely close to a reasonable price."

"For a $1,000 laptop, Motorola is demanding that Microsoft pay a royalty of $22.50 for its 50 patents on the video standard," he said, while a group of 29 companies was making 2,300 other patents available for just two cents.

"If every firm priced its standard essential patents like Motorola, the cost of the patents would be greater than all the other costs combined in making PCs, tablets, smartphones and other devices," Heiner said.
Microsoft was not using SEPs in an attempt to block smartphones or tablets running Android, Heiner said, and he appealed to Google to change course.

"For a company so publicly committed to protecting the Internet, one might expect them to join the growing consensus against using standard essential patents to block products," he said.

Patent analyst Florian Mueller said on his FOSS Patents blog he expected the European Commission to "make a determination on the launch of full-blown investigations within a few months."

Mueller added that "if every owner of standard-essential patents behaved like Motorola, this industry would be in chaos, and grind to a halt.

"I don't dispute any company's right to defend its intellectual property vigorously, but when standard essential patents are involved, there must be clear limits."

Source: http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Science%2Band%2BTech/Story/A1Story20120223-329617.html

Microsoft Patent | "Microsoft narrows patent battle with Barnes & Noble"

By: Geoff Duncan
Source: http://www.digitaltrends.com
Category: Microsoft Patent 

Microsoft Patent

Microsoft has dropped one of its patent infringement claims against Barnes & Noble - not on the merits, but to streamline the case.

Microsoft has dropped one of its patent infringement claims against book- and ereader-seller Barnes & Noble before the U.S. International Trade Commission, in an effort to streamline its case against the company as a trial date looms closer. The so-called “522 patent” describes a method for displaying tabs similar to those now commonly found in Web browsers; Microsoft isn’t saying the patent is not valid or is not being infringed upon by Barnes & Noble, just that its severing that particular patent from its current litigation.
There are three patents remaining in Microsoft’s complaint against Barnes & Noble. The U.S. ITC is scheduled to hold hearings on Microsoft’s complaints against Barnes & Noble on Monday.
Last week, administrative law judge Theodore Essex (with the U.S. ITC) granted Microsoft’s request to dismiss claims by Barnes & Noble that Microsoft is abusing the patent system in an effort to marginalize Android and other open-source operating systems. The ruling restrict’s Barnes & Noble’s avenues of defense to attacking the validity of Microsoft’s patents, and/or attempting to demonstrate Barnes & Noble’s products do not infringe upon them.
Microsoft has been widely successful in getting Android device makers to license technology from Microsoft—meaning the Redmond software giant is earning money from the majority of Android smartphones and tablets on sale in the U.S., despite Android being a “free and open” operating system. One of the major holdouts against Microsoft’s Android licensing juggernaut is bookseller Barnes & Noble, which has refused to knuckle under; the other big-name holdout against Microsoft is Motorola—and Google is currently in the process of acquiring Motorola Mobility, in part to shore up Android’s patent position.

Source: http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/microsoft-narrows-patent-battle-with-barnes-noble/
 

Microsoft Patent | "Microsoft reaches patent deal with LG"

By: ZEEnews.com
Category: Microsoft Patent

Microsoft Patent

 San Francisco: Microsoft Thursday announced a patent licensing agreement with LG Electronics covering tablets, smartphones and other consumer devices running Google's Android or Chrome operating system.

Microsoft said it marks the 11th deal with a device manufacturer leveraging Google's operating system platform.

"More than 70 percent of all Android smartphones in the US are now receiving coverage under Microsoft's patent portfolio," Xinhua quoted a press release from the Microsoft as saying.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. So far, Microsoft has struck major cross-licensing patent agreements with HTC, Samsung and Acer, among others.

Last September, Microsoft announced a broad patent deal with Samsung. US media reports cited South Korean media as saying that Microsoft had wanted Samsung to pay $10-15 for each Android device.

The booming mobile market has been harassed by acrimonious legal battles over patent infringement. Being an open source operating system, Google's Android has become a major target of patent suits.

Microsoft has been going after companies that make phones and tablets running Android, rather than directly against Google.

But the two tech giants are still engaged in public spats over the issue after Google's top legal officer posted a scathing blog last August accusing Microsoft and other companies of waging "a hostile, organized campaign against Android".

Motorola Mobility, which Google announced to acquire in a $12.5 billion deal last August, currently is the last major Android device vendor that refuses to take a license from Microsoft.

Frank Shaw, Microsoft's head of communications, used Twitter to taunt Google Thursday, twitting "Hey Google -- we are the 70 percent" with a link to their press release.

Brad Smith, Microsoft's executive vice president and general counsel, also tweeted "it's time to recognize that in patent world, lawsuits are the 1 percent; license agreements are the 99 percent".

Google so far has made no comments on the Microsoft-LG patent deal.

Source: http://zeenews.india.com/news/technology/microsoft-reaches-patent-deal-with-lg_752323.html

Microsoft Patent | "Microsoft patent may help pedestrians avoid crime-prone areas"

By: GMA News
Source: http://www.gmanetwork.com 
Category: Microsoft Patent

Smartphones and mobile devices with software from Microsoft may soon help pedestrians avoid ghettoes and potentially crime-prone areas.

 

Microsoft has been granted a patent that allows its mapping software to get up-to-date information about a neighborhood, including crime statistics.

 

"The system ... can produce a direction set that is specifically tailored to pedestrian travel. A gather component 102 can obtain information related to pedestrian travel. Example information related to pedestrian travel include maps (e.g., extracted from a database), user history, weather information, crime statistics, demographic information, etc.," it said in its patent with the US Patent and Trademark Office.

 

Such a feature is likely to be integrated in Microsoft's Windows Phone gadgets.

 

Under the patent, the system will have a search component that locates at least one information source, retains pedestrian history from and addresses of at least one information source that has a history of providing reliable information.

 

The gather component will obtain information related to pedestrian travel including information on security, weather and terrain.

 

An analysis component determines an importance of the information to a user, estimates how likely the information is to change, and chooses if the user should reach a destination through a pedestrian route and/or through a conventional route.

 

The system also hints that ads can be inserted into the presentation of routes.

 

"Various features can integrate with route presentment, such as integrating an advertisement targeted to a pedestrian with a direction set," it said.

 

Inventors of the patent, which was filed as early as December 2007, included Ivan Tashev, Jeffrey Couckuyt, Neil Black, John Krumm, Ruston Panabaker, and Michael Lewis Seltzer.

 

A separate article on tech site CNET, however, said it is not immediately clear what kind of crime statistics the system may choose to use.

 

"It's one thing to avoid areas where there might have occurred physical assaults and gunfire. It's another to avoid, say, places where burglaries are popular, as one suspects quite a few allegedly nice areas are subject to burglars' desires," it said.

 

Also, it questioned if the system integrating ads can take pedestrians to areas with specific ads.

 

"Is this suggesting that Windows Phones will give pedestrians a route that will take them past specific ads? What a curious and slightly mind-altering thought.

One wonders whether those who use the system might also be offered an 'avoid ads' option," it said.

Source: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/244035/scitech/technology/microsoft-patent-may-help-pedestrians-avoid-crime-prone-areas?ref=subsection_item

Microsoft Patent | "Microsoft's Pedestrian Navigation Patent Dubbed 'Avoid Ghetto.' Really?"

By: David Murphy
Source: http://www.pcmag.com
Category: Patent News

Microsoft Patent

It's "pedestrian route production," not the "avoid ghetto" toggle, but various pundits have already miscategorized Microsoft's latest patent for a feature that would allow Windows Phones to create more user-friendly route navigation for those on foot.

So where does the "ghetto" part come into play? Presumably, right in the first line of Microsoft's description of patent No. 8,090,532: "As a pedestrian travels, various difficulties can be encountered, such as traveling through an unsafe neighborhood or being in an open area that is subject to harsh temperatures."

The fix, suggests Microsoft, is to combine an assessment of a user's behaviors with the user's upcoming tasks and some relevant external data sets. For example, Microsoft's mobile route-generation system could "learn" that a user leaves work at 5 p.m. each day and heads to a common location – home. Since the system's pedestrian-focused, it could design a route that a vehicle couldn't navigate to give the user the quickest possible walk home.

"In addition, unexpected results can take place through practice of the disclosed innovation," reads Microsoft's patent. "As an illustration, a pedestrian could arrive at a location faster than if she traveled in a vehicle by taking more direct paths, yet a vehicle commonly travels much faster. Due to detailed route planning, a direction set can be created that allows a user to take more diverse paths that can compensate for a general lack of speed."

But that's not all. The system could also take a user's history into account ("paths previously taken by a user, available paths, user experiences upon the paths, etc.") as well as any potential stops that might otherwise alter a user's normal route on a given day – like a calendar appointment that would force a user to stop somewhere after work on the way home, for example.

As for the "avoid ghetto" bit, Microsoft also indicates that its pedestrian route navigation system could take database information into account when planning one's walking route, which could include weather information, crime statistics, and demographic information. But the specific crime statistics or demographics that Microsoft's system might consider, and what the threshold might be that would deem a route "unsafe" by the system, wasn't specified.

The crux of Microsoft's patent is that it wants to build a real-time navigational system that gives users the best possible walk home, using a combination of a walker's preferences, third-party data, and the specific choices a person makes during the walk itself (like the benefits of switching to public transit mid-way, for example). The "avoid ghetto" tag is a bit of a misnomer; Microsoft seems to want its users to be able to avoid any and all transit headaches.

Source: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2398562,00.asp

Microsoft Patent | "Microsoft scores patent win over Motorola Android phones"

By: Geoff Duncan
Source: http://www.digitaltrends.com
Category: Microsoft Patent

Microsoft Patent

A judge has ruled Motorola's Android phones infringe on a Microsoft patent, marking Redmond's first win over Android. But six other infringement claims didn't stand up.

Microsoft has won a bit of a victory in its patent infringement suit against Motorola, with an administrative law judge at the U.S. International Trade Commission ruling that Motorola Android phones violated one of seven Microsoft patents. The patent in question covers synchronizing calendars and scheduling events on a mobile device, and is part of Microsoft’s ActiveSync technology. However, the administrative judge’s ruling also leaves six of Microsoft’s patent infringement claims out in the cold, meaning Microsoft gets to chalk up a win—but just barely.

Both sides were upbeat about the decision, with Microsoft asserting the ruling validates the company’s claims and its controversial Android licensing program, which currently has more than half of Android device makers paying royalties to Microsoft. Motorola’s refusal to pay license fees to Microsoft for Android devices was one of the precipitating factors in the suit.

“As Samsung, HTC, Acer and other companies have recognized, respecting others’ intellectual property through licensing is the right path forward,” said Microsoft deputy general counsel David Howard, in a statement.

Motorola spun the decision as a victory for its claims, noting the ruling cleared Motorola from infringing on six of seven claims.

“We are very pleased that the majority of the rulings were favorable,” said Motorola Mobility senior VP and general counsel Scott Offer, in a statement. “The ALJ’s initial determination may provide clarity on the definition of the Microsoft 566 patent for which a violation was found and will help us avoid infringement of this patent in the U.S. market.”

The ruling is preliminary, with a final ruling from the full six-member ITC panel not expected to come down until April 20, 2012, after which there’s another 60-day review period where Motorola could take its case directly to President Obama. Even if the infringement claim holds up, the delay before the final ruling gives Motorola Mobility plenty of time to retool its Android devices to avoid infringement claims and keep its devices on sale on the United States. Markets outside the U.S. won’t be affected by the ruling either way.

Motorola is also suing Microsoft for patent infringement in several markets, including claims against Exchange, Outlook, Messenger, Bing maps, Wi-Fi, video encoding, and graphical password technologies used in the Xbox 360. Those claims have yet to be adjudicated.

Google is in the process of acquiring Motorola Mobility, ostensibly to bring Motorola’s patent portfolio on board and protect Android from first patent infringement claims.


Source: http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/microsoft-scores-patent-win-over-motorola-android-phones/