Recent court ruling may have nudged Google, Microsoft to settle patent disputes
A few days before Microsoft and Google announced that they were dropping their patent disputes, a decision in an appeals court may have helped the two companies focus on a lasting compromise over their expensive lawsuits over smartphone and other patents.
On Sept. 15, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied Motorola's appeal for a full-bench rehearing on its petition.
The appeals court had earlier upheld an order of a district court in Seattle setting royalty rates for Motorola's standard essential patents in the areas of H.264 video-coding standard and the 802.11 WLAN standard, at rates lower than expected by Motorola. The appeals court also upheld a subsequent jury verdict finding breach of contract and awarding Microsoft $14.5 million in damages, including $3 million in attorneys’ fees because of Motorola's “conduct in seeking injunctive relief” for Microsoft's use of the patents in some of its products.
To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here