An International Trade Commission(ITC) judge has recommended a ban on the sale and import of Xbox 360 consoles in the US in a patent infringement case between Motorola and Microsoft. Judge David Shaw ruled that Microsoft infringed on four Motorola patents regarding the H.264 video compression codec and wireless technologies used in the Xbox 360 console and controllers. Microsoft appealed the decision stating that a ban would result in a lack of market competition.
While the verdict was upheld, the decision now falls to the ITC's six-member board of commissioners. They have until August 23rd to determine if the original verdict should be upheld. If this commission agrees to the ban, the case will then be presented to the Obama Administration with a 60-day review period. During this time, the decision can be signed or overturned. Until a final decision is made, XBox 360 consoles will remain available for sale.
This is not the only case in which Motorola, now owned by Google, and Microsoft are embroiled in. Recently, Motorola was found to be in violation of one of Microsoft’s patents regarding the creation and scheduling of meeting requests. This has resulted in the ban of a selection of older devices. This back-and-forth patent dispute is the latest in a long list of similar disputes and court cases in the technology industry.