“Today the Munich I Regional Court, which has already identified five patent infringements by Android-based devices, held a first hearing on a Microsoft complaint against wholly-owned Google subsidiary Motorola Mobility over EP0845124 on a “computer system for identifying local resources and method therefor”, which is the European equivalent of U.S. Patent No. 6,240,360,” Florian Mueller reports for FOSS Patents.
“Previous German patent rulings in Apple’s and Microsoft’s favor have already required Google (Motorola) to pull all of its Android-based devices, without any exception, from the German market,” Mueller reports. “But Microsoft keeps up the pressure and continues to prove Android’s wide-ranging infringement of its intellectual property until the Google subsidiary will join Samsung, HTC, LG and others in taking a royalty-bearing license to the numerous Microsoft patents it is currently violating. The German situation validates the decisions of industry leaders like Samsung, HTC and LG to sign up to Microsoft’s Android (and Chrome) patent licensing program.”
Mueller reports, “This latest German lawsuit, which was filed in April 2012 targets Android’s Google Maps app. At today’s three-hour hearing, Motorola Mobility doggedly denied Microsoft’s infringement contentions without specifying how Google’s server infrastructure operates. Toward the end of the court session, Microsoft’s lead counsel, Dr. Tilman Mueller-Stoy of the Bardehle Pagenberg firm, the leading German IP firm that has won more injunctions (five) against Android than any other law firm in the world, made a very significant announcement in open court: Microsoft will amend this complaint in order to add Google Inc., Motorola Mobility’s parent company and operator of the server infrastructure that powers the Google Maps Android app, as an additional defendant.”
Much more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Uh, go, Microsoft, go?!
(Yuck! That always makes us feel like we just drank spoiled milk.)
The infringements are beginning to circle to core violator. There’s no Calvary in sight.
Never underestimate or trust the mole.
I don’t know about no Calvary – sounds like Microsoft is prepared to crucify them.
Eric is probable hearing footsteps. Put on your pink cowboy hat mole boy and scare them if you can, ya dumb ass.
I’m happy Apple and Microsft has a cross licensing deal in place.
The one funny thing about all this is how Google touts Google Linux activations and devices shipped all the time. But in the Java case with Oracle they essentially argued for how little money they actually make on android. And the fact is that they make very little money on Android. Some licensing of their Apps and a little bit on the ads. If a remember the numbers right read on Motely Fool this summer Apple makes like 20 times more money so Google would have to activate ALOT more devices in order to be as profitable as Apple. By inventing Android and supporting it Google is essentially subsidising other manufacturers like Samsung’s profit. That’s kinda insane when you think about it like that. But for some reason Google felt it had to crash Apple’s party by stepping in front with Google Linux. Just imagine Apple’s share of the market without Google. Only today so many years after iPhones launch do we have another competitor in Windows Phone and during all that time iOS which Apple does not license would have been the only alternative. Google did the rest of the industry a GIGANT FAVOUR in creating Gooogle Linux but it has not benefitted themselves that much.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Unfortunately, my new friend is being commanded by the equivalent of General Custer.
Custer was stupid, but he was no fat ass. Balmer is both. Trust him to screw it up some how.
Custer: “Indians, Indians, Indians…”
Custer, at the battle of the Little Big Horn: “wow, look at all those fucking Indians…”
Why does this work in Germany and no where else?
I have a new-found respect for Microsoft. Sure, they’ve played dirty in the Mac vs. PC war, but it’s just nothing compared to what we’ve seen from Samsung, Google and the rest. Now they seem to have forged an alliance with Apple against the rest of them, and they stayed on Apple’s good side by making a licensing deal even though Apple is unlikely to cause any legal trouble for them anytime soon as they’ve got their hands full of much larger Googly problems. And they’ve actually done a better job at innovating and differentiating their products than Google did, even if they were miserable failures.
I tried to say “go microsoft” but ended up just throwing up a little into my mouth.
I shan’t try that again.