Microsoft Succeeds in Banning All Motorola Android Devices from Germany

[dgstorm]

Because most of the us have been paying the most attention to the Samsung vs. Apple Patent Wars it made it easy to forget there were other legal battles raging in the mobile tech industry. From out of nowhere, a pretty big bombshell of news has been dropped today. Microsoft won it's lawsuit against Motorola in Germany, and now Motorola’s entire Android lineup is banned there.

Also, in stark contrast to the Apple vs Samsung baseless lawsuits, this one looks very legitimate. Apparently, all of Motorola's devices use Microsoft's FAT (File Allocation Tablet) system for storing info, but for some inexplicable reason, Motorola refused to accept a royalty-bearing patent license with Microsoft over this issue. Motorola plans to appeal the verdict (the judge already denied Motorola's motion to stay the ban), but in the mean-time it can no longer sell any of its Android devices in Germany, including the RAZR and RAZR MAXX. Germany may not be one of Motorola's largest markets overall, but it is one of their biggest European markets, so this could sting their pocketbook just a bit.

Looking at the bigger picture; however, things are actually pretty grim for Moto. They have the same case going on in the United States, and if the U.S. court takes the German court's decision into consideration, the legal precedent set could cause a cascade effect in the U.S. as well. This would pretty much be "game over" for Motorola. Of course, a not so easy option for Motorola would be to simply switch the file system of all their devices from FAT to something Linux based like most Android phones. This would make it a bit more difficult for Motorola users to transfer files from their device to a PC, but it would solve Moto's problem.

It will be interesting to see what decisions Motorola makes now that Google is their parent. We will keep you informed if anything changes.

Source: AndroidAuthority

[MJPollard]

Legitimate or not, I still believe that, in the larger scheme, it's all a matter of "competing in the courtroom because they can't compete in the marketplace." Doesn't exactly make me want to consider any Microsoft or Apple product.

[Slowhand]

if we want to see a moto nexus later this year they really need to either accept a royalty agreement or change the file system.

[stalemate]

As for the US courts considering German precedents as influential to their own decisions, there should be no worry.

After all, Apple products that were banned and removed from the market in Germany keep selling in the USA.

I think it's inevitable that Google will ultimately have to face off directly against their competitors in the courts of law as well, whatever that may bring.

Personally, this just reinforces my mindset that Apple and MS are riding Android's coattails as it keeps innovating out of their respective reach.