Two weeks ago, the CFO of the Mobile Communications Business at Microsoft hinted something dramatic would happen. Now it has: Microsoft announced this afternoon that it’s suing Motorola over nine (alleged) Android patent infringements.
Let’s dive straight into the official version of events. Microsoft said in a statement, "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."
Then the statement continued, "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."
Of course, if some sort of settlement doesn’t occur, Android and Google, and not just Motorola, will in a sense be on trial. After all, a victory for Microsoft here would surely lead to the company filing a lot more Android-oriented lawsuits.
Horatio Gutierrez, Corporate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at Microsoft, hinted in a corporate blog post that Apple and Oracle would like to see Motorola lose, as well.
Motorola and Google haven’t given any hint of how they intend to respond, however, opting to stay quiet so far instead.