By Anton D. Nagy | August 23, 2011 7:46 AM
After the Google-Motorola deal has gone public, the phone maker is facing its first problems: Microsoft is accusing Motorola of infringing seven of its patents (among which ways to sync e-mail, calendars and contacts; schedule meetings; notify applications of changes in signal strength and battery power).
Redmond asked ITC to block from import certain Motorola phones, including the Droid 2, Droid X, Cliq XT, Devour, Backflip and Charm. “Motorola is infringing our patents and we are confident that the ITC will rule in our favor”, said David Howard, Microsoft’s corporate vice president and deputy general counsel for litigation.
Motorola is considering Microsoft’s move to be a “patent attack business strategy” through Jennifer Erickson, a spokeswoman for the company. While the ITC has to complete its investigation by March 5, Judge Theodore Essex is scheduled to release his findings on November 4.
Google acquired Motorola Mobility mostly because it wanted to gain access to the phone maker’s patent portfolio in order to defend itself (and its OEMs) in lawsuits.
