Motorola has suffered a setback in Europe. A ruling promulgated by a Mannheim Court has resulted in Motorola’s Android-based devices getting banned for sale in Germany. More specifically, any Motorola device that uses FAT technology for its internal storage are going to be pulled from stores and other sales avenues in Germany. The ruling’s effect is immediate.
The court ruling was basically in favor of Microsoft’s suit. The software giant has a patent for the FAT or File Allocation Table, a technology that allows people to more readily find and label media files when using a storage system that runs FAT. With this ruling, Motorola may be forced to just implement a different file system, but in the meantime, expect the company to file an appeal with the court.
Microsoft has been actively making licensing contracts with various manufacturers who produce Android devices – a move that some see is devious. Motorola has refused to enter into any agreement with Microsoft. The acquisition of Motorola Mobility by Google was seen as one way to partly address the protection of the platform and also its other partners from various legal problems. Other Android device manufacturers like HTC, Samsung and LG have all decided to sign licensing agreements with Microsoft just to eliminate the associated difficulties of a lawsuit. But these same agreements have also emboldened Microsoft with its claims of intellectual property infringement and has mainly used it to justify its actions of going after companies that do not have licensing agreements with them.
Originally posted on July 30, 2012 @ 8:23 pm
