Feb 26, 2012 - 11:40 am

Xbox 360: Microsoft Fights Motorola and Google in Patent Dispute

Looks like Microsoft likes receiving royalties not paying them out. The computing behemoth is filing a complaint against Motorola and parent company Google because it perceives a threat posed by these two companies’ patent positions. In short, Google bought out Motorola earlier primarily for its patent portfolio which Google needs for its own telephony ventures.

Apparently, Microsoft sees their patent position as a potential threat that sets Motorola “on a path” to “kill video on the Web.” Sound really dramatic, doesn’t it? How is Motorola doing this? According to Microsoft, “Motorola is attempting to block sales of Windows PCs, Xbox game consoles, and other products.” Motorola supposedly stakes its claims on patents it owns that enable users to enjoy videos over the Web and connect to the Web wireless through industry standards.

Here’s the clincher: Microsoft states that the royalties Motorola is charging isn’t “remotely close to a reasonable price.” It goes on to cite the price of a laptop and the royalty asked of Microsoft to paint a picture of a disproportionate royalty structure. Microsoft gets these rights due to its 50 patents covering the H.264 video standard. Read the full blog post from Microsoft about the issue right here.

Is this a question of a corporate diva fit? Or is this a classic example of using patent positions to choke the competition? Maybe the picture will clear up a little bit more once we see what Motorola has to say on the matter.