Microsoft Sues Motorola Mobility For Infringing Android Patents

Microsoft has filed a patent infringement suit against Motorola Mobility for infringing on Microsoft patents that cover Android. The purchase of Motorola Mobility by Google was only recently announced and part of the reason that Google bought Motorola Mobility was to keep Microsoft from getting hands on 18 of the key Android patents that Motorola Mobility owns.

Microsoft claims that Motorola Mobility is infringing on seven patents that it holds relating to Android. Microsoft wants to ban the import to the US of seven Motorola Android smartphones including the Droid 2, Droid X, Cliq XT, Devour, Backflip and Charm. Microsoft's deputy general counsel David Howard said that it has a responsibility to safeguard its IP.

As patent cases generally go, Motorola has said that it filed its own patent infringement case against Microsoft in the US and Europe to address the "large-scale infringement" of Microsoft onto Motorola Mobility patents. Microsoft is alleging in part that Motorola is infringing on patents it holds relating to synchronizing email and displaying battery charge level.

[via Android Community]