Microsoft Sues Motorola For Android Phones

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Lawsuits are nothing new to the mobile phone world, where it seems like every player has a lawsuit pending against everybody else. Today, Microsoft announced that they had filed a “patent infringement action” against Illinois-based Motorola, saying that the manufacturer had infringed upon nine Microsoft patents regarding mobile phones.

The patents in question, Microsoft say relate to “synchronizing email, calendars and contacts, scheduling meetings, and notifying applications of changes in signal strength and battery power.” Microsoft specifically names Motorola’s Android phones in the statement in question. As I’m sure our readers are aware, Motorola has come back from the dead in the past 12 months, with their Android phones getting a lot of positive reception.

Microsoft’s Horacio Gutierrez, Vice President and Deputy Counsel for Microsoft wrote the initial press statement announcing the suit and later expanded his thoughts on the issue with a Microsoft blog post. He wrote:

It is imperative that companies address IP issues related to the software that makes possible this new class of devices.  The rules of the road are long-established in the software industry, and fundamental to the industry’s growth and economic impact is respect for others’ intellectual property rights.

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.

Oracle is of course, suing Google saying that Android infringes on Java patents. Apple is suing HTC for the Nexus One, alleging the superphone infringes on their iPhone-related patents. And now, we’ve got Microsoft suing Motorola. It’s public knowledge that HTC pays Microsoft a licensing fee for every Android phone they sell – but we believed that had something to do with HTC Sense. Is that why Motorola is being sued and not HTC? (Of course, Motorola isn’t making a WP7 phone – unlike other Android manufacturers like Samsung, HTC, Sony Ericsson, etc).

We’re being Android fans here at the TFTS offices, but if the open-source OS keeps proving to be a legal lighting rod, will it scare away these third-party manufacturers from making great Android phones?

We’ve asked Motorola for an official statement regarding this Microsoft lawsuit. Once the company has replied, we’ll update this page.

Update: Here’s the comment from Motorola:

Motorola has not received a copy of the complaint, therefore we cannot comment at this point. Motorola has a leading intellectual property portfolio, one of the strongest in the industry. The company will vigorously defend itself in this matter