ITC Remands Judge's Finding of Patent Violations by Microsoft's Xboxes
In an action brought by Motorola Mobility and General Instrument Corporation that seeks to ban Microsoft’s Xbox gaming consoles for patent violations, the International Trade Commission remanded for reconsideration an administrative law judge’s affirmative finding of violations by Microsoft of certain patents. The administrative law judge had ruled in April that Microsoft’s Xbox violated certain claims of four patents held by Motorola Mobility and General Instrument in the ITC’s section 337 investigation of certain gaming and entertainment consoles, related software, and components thereof (337-TA-752).
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
Specifically, the ITC ordered the administrative law judge to, among other things, apply the ITC’s December 2011 opinion in Certain Electronic Devices with Image Processing Systems, Components Thereof, and Associated Software (337-TA-724; and rule on Microsoft’s June 22 motion for partial termination of the investigation with respect to two of the four patents the judge found it to have violated.
(See ITT’s Online Archives 10121748 for summary of institution of this investigation, and 12051503 for summary of the ITC’s request for comments on proposed remedy and bonding. See also ITT’s Online Archives 12060718 for summary of comments the Federal Trade Commission submitted in this proceeding that said exclusion orders in favor of a standard essential patent holder, where infringement is based on implementation of standardized technology, "has the potential to cause substantial harm to U.S. competition, consumers and innovation.")