The jury agreed with Microsoft claims that Motorola is now owned by Google, violating an agreement with the standard-setting bodies to license certain patents on fair and reasonable level, says Microsoft.
Microsoft won a jury about 14 million dollars, or half of the amount sued. This amount consists of $ 11 million for the relocation of warehouses in Germany for orders on a particular Microsoft product that was brought by Motorola in the country, and $ 3 million for litigation expenses.
"This is an important victory for all those who want an affordable and good product," Microsoft said in a statement quoted by Reuters.
A spokesman for Motorola indicated that the company would appeal.
Victory followed victory for Microsoft elsewhere. Last year in Seattle judge found that the appropriate level for a particular license Motorola's wireless and video technology used in the Xbox game console is just a fraction of what has been claimed Motorola.
Update: Google said in a statement: ”We’re disappointed in this outcome, but look forward to an appeal of the novel legal issues raised in this case. In the meantime, we’ll focus on building great products that people love.”
About $23 million of the damages sought by Microsoft had been related to the expense of moving a distribution center to the Netherlands when Motorola won an injunction in Germany in a related case. Lawyers for Motorola presented evidence showing that Microsoft actually benefitted from moving the distribution center by increasing its capacity.
The case centered on offers that Motorola made to Microsoft in 2010 to license the smartphone maker’s patents required to implement the H.264 video and 802.11 wireless standards in Windows and Xbox.
U.S. District Judge James Robart, who presided over the jury trial, ruled previously that a fair and reasonable licensing deal would require Microsoft to pay only a fraction of what Motorola originally offered — about $1.8 million a year, compared with $4 billion a year if Motorola’s original offers were taken at face value, Microsoft said.
Microsoft alleged that Motorola’s offer breached its legal commitments to the standards-setting organizations, and by extension to Microsoft, to license the “standard-essential” patents on fair and reasonable terms.
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