Microsoft and Motorola Duke it Out in Xbox/Android Patent Disputes

While Sony and LG are busily trying to outdo each other, with LG having the upper hand after the EU seized PS3 shipments and the US ITC voting to look into the matter of the patent dispute, Microsoft is also involved in its own struggle in regards to patents.

Florian Mueller at FossPatents reports:

On December 24, 2010 I published my last update on the patent dispute between Microsoft and Motorola over Android-based smartphones and, to a lesser degree, set-top boxes and the Xbox gaming console. At the time there were 35 patents-in-suit. Meanwhile that number has increased to 44 as Motorola asserted another two patents and Microsoft another seven. Microsoft’s new assertions relate not only to Android-based phones but also to two Motorola networking products, the Mesh Wide Area Network AP 7181 and the CPEi 150 (also known as "CLEAR Home Modem").

It seems that the tech giants are ready to throw down over this stuff. Worst case scenario for us is that we start seeing limits on availability of the affected products (like the PS3). Best case scenario is they get tired of throwing punches and just settle up or even better, cut some cross-platform gaming deal. No wait, Sony and Android have a deal now, that wouldn’t work... or would it?

One of the major sticking points of the dispute is where to even have the proceedings. Motorola says Wisconsin, Microsoft says Washington (where they are headquartered).

Meanwhile, Motorola recently cited, as reason for a quick resolution to all of this, that their smartphones are increasingly more competitive with game consoles in the home.

Microsoft countered (again from Foss Patents):

In its March 3, 2011 reply to that claim, Microsoft points out that a consumer looking to buy a phone won’t buy an Xbox instead: "obviously, no consumer carries an Xbox around to make mobile phone calls, which it cannot make in any case." Imagine that -- wouldn’t it look funny? And how much funnier would it look after a, say, one-hour call?

Heh, I don’t even like to carry my Xbox over to a friend’s place in my backpack let alone lug it around as my main mobile communication device. I think Motorola might have overstated their importance in the matter.

Additionally, the games that can be played on Android phones presently are but a fraction of what can be played on the Xbox 360 console. While there could be some camera-based gesture functionality in the near future for a wide array of platforms, it certainly won’t be confused with, conflict with nor replace something like a home game console and Kinect. With the fast pace with which Android phones are increasing in power and graphics processing it could only be a year before they get to the same level. But again, most gamers would have both devices and not a one-or-the-other outlook.

Now video calling on the other hand, that’s a different story. Of course, a Kinect-enabled Xbox 360 can only video chat with....other Kinect-enabled Xbox 360 consoles. So considering it a communication device in the same area as the mobile phone is an extreme stretch of the truth.

Thanks again to Florian Mueller for hooking us up with the patent law and dispute info.