wraggster
July 2nd, 2012, 00:00
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2012/04/moto-microsoft-1335221855.jpg (http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/30/motorola-itc-case-vs-microsoft-remanded/)Things were looking grim for gaming in April, when the International Trade Commission decided that the Xbox 360 violated Motorola patents (http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/23/itc-issues-preliminary-ruling-in-microsoft-motorola-dispute/) and the console's US future was in doubt. The agency hasn't necessarily reversed its decision, but it just gave Microsoft a significant (and possibly permanent) reprieve. The Commission has remanded Motorola's case back to the Administrative Law Judge that gave the initial ruling, which very nearly restarts the clock: a new ruling won't come for months, and the usual review process guarantees even more of a delay even if the decision once more works in Motorola's favor. Patent suit watcher Florian Mueller is now confident that the Xbox 360 won't face any real risk of a ban in 2012, at a minimum. If the new decision doesn't clear Microsoft outright, it still pushes any ruling past a Microsoft lawsuit's trial in mid-November, when Motorola might be blocked from attempting any ban using its standards-based patents. We've rarely seen a majority or total reversal of this kind of ITC (http://www.engadget.com/tag/ITC/) patent dispute before it reaches the appeals stage, but there's a distinct chance of that flip happening here -- especially as the ITC is using Apple's successful dismissal of an S3 Graphics victory (http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/24/htc-re-evalutes-s3-graphics-deal-following-patent-defeat-by-ap/) as the judge's new template.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/30/motorola-itc-case-vs-microsoft-remanded/
http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/30/motorola-itc-case-vs-microsoft-remanded/