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Video Former RIM boss sought strategy shift Germany upholds ban on Apple "push" email Video: An analog alternative to Instagram Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Exclusive: Iran ships "off radar" as Tehran conceals oil sales 10:23am EDT North Korea's rocket launch ends in failure: South Korea 12 Apr 2012 Embarrassed by rocket crash, North Korea may try nuclear test | 12:58pm EDT Big gap between races in U.S. on Trayvon Martin killing 12 Apr 2012 Obama likely paid higher tax rate than Romney in 2011 5:29pm EDT Discussed 292 Trayvon Martin call was ”mistake, not deliberate”: NBC 118 Obama healthcare law could sharply worsen U.S. deficits: study 106 North Korea launches rocket amid international condemnation Watched North Korea rocket launch fails 12:07am EDT "Robo-guard" on patrol in South Korean prison Thu, Apr 12 2012 Transgender beauty says she wants to compete for Miss Universe Tue, Apr 3 2012 Pictures Reuters Photojournalism Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more Inside North Korea Rare scenes from within the reclusive state. Slideshow Refugee art Drawings on the canvas of tents in Syrian refugee camps on the Turkish-Syrian border. Slideshow "Astounding" Seattle TRO ruling could remake smartphone wars Tweet Share this Email Print A shop attendant poses with replicas of HTC, Samsung and Apple's smartphones inside a mobile phone shop April 6, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Shengfa Lin Related News Oracle kicks off busy trial season against Google 7:36am EDT U.S. judge backs Microsoft in Motorola patent dispute Wed, Apr 11 2012 Dow, S&P end lower for four days; jobs data a worry Mon, Apr 9 2012 Microsoft trumps Amazon, others for AOL patents Mon, Apr 9 2012 Facebook launches patent counterattack against Yahoo Tue, Apr 3 2012 Analysis & Opinion For MBIA and BofA, it’s just about high noon Top Patch editor’s “bittersweet” exit Related Topics U.S. » Tech » Media » By Alison Frankel Fri Apr 13, 2012 2:39pm EDT (Reuters) - With a single ruling this week, U.S. District Judge James Robart of Seattle federal court may have fundamentally altered the balance of power between Motorola Mobility and the leading opponents of Motorola's soon-to-be-parent Google, Microsoft and Apple. In another indication that the smartphone war is shifting away from individual infringement suits, Robart granted Microsoft's motion for a temporary restraining order, which effectively bars Motorola from acting to enforce whatever relief it is granted in an ongoing German patent case. In that case, before a court in Mannheim, Motorola has claimed Microsoft Windows and Xbox products infringe German patents that are part of Motorola's standard-essential portfolio. The Seattle judge, according to this transcript of the order he issued in open court, agreed with Microsoft that the German patents are already at issue in Microsoft's case before him, which accuses Motorola of breaching its obligation to offer standard-essential patents on fair and reasonable licensing terms. Robart granted the temporary restraining order under the Anti-Suit Act, which is intended to restrict forum-shopping and harassing litigation. That is how Microsoft and its counsel at Sidley Austin described Motorola's German suit. According to Microsoft, Motorola first tried to extract exorbitant licensing fees for a portfolio of about 100 worldwide standard-essential patents. Then, after Microsoft filed a Seattle federal-court suit asserting that Motorola's licensing demand was a breach of its contract with a European standard-setting body, Motorola sued Microsoft in Germany for infringing German patents that were part of the portfolio at issue in Seattle. The judge agreed that Motorola appeared to have run to Germany to obtain an injunction there before he could decide the merits of Microsoft's contract case. Microsoft's U.S. suit, he said, included the same patents Motorola was asserting in Germany, because those German patents were part of the portfolio for which Motorola demanded allegedly improper licensing fees. Robart concluded that under the Anti-Suit Act, he has the power to block Motorola from enforcing whatever relief it wins in Germany until he rules on the larger question of reasonable licensing fees for standard-essential patents. "The battleground in this … is whether the United States action, or resolution of it, would be dispositive of the foreign action to be enjoined," the judge said at Wednesday's hearing. "And I will add, for the edification of the Court of Appeals, so it knows where I'm coming from, that I consider the preservation of my ability to resolve this dispute to be something that needs to be carefully guarded, otherwise we run into the possibilities of conflicting resolutions, duplicative litigation, and unfortunate results that don't follow appropriate law." Why is the ruling so significant? Injunctions are hard to obtain in U.S. patent litigation, so patent holders in the last five or so years have taken advantage of easier injunction standards in Germany and elsewhere to gain leverage in global patent disputes. The Robart ruling holds that, at least in cases involving worldwide standard-setting portfolios, U.S. litigation trumps cases elsewhere. That's a potentially significant shift in the balance of power between patent holders and licensees. Expect to see Apple, for instance, point to the ruling in its own standard-essential litigation with Motorola. Apple sued Motorola in San Diego federal court in February, making essentially the same argument as Microsoft. It claimed Motorola's German assertion of standard-setting patents against Apple violates Motorola's contract with the standard-setting body. The parallels with Microsoft's case suggest that Apple will also be able to use the Robart ruling to block Motorola from enforcing any German injunction it obtains. The leading authority on standard-setting patents, Jorge Contreras of American University's Washington College of Law, told Reuters Robart's ruling is "pretty astounding." He said he has never before seen a contract case involving standard-essential patents serve as the basis of an Anti-Suit injunction -- and said that the U.S. judge's assertion of his authority to block foreign patent actions is "very surprising." Motorola, he said, has to offer a worldwide portfolio of patents to licensees of standard-essential technology. So to say that conclude that such an offer precludes litigation over patents in the portfolio outside of the U.S. "seems like a significant reach….I can see this being a really important decision." Microsoft deputy general counsel David Howard told Reuters that the ruling means "Motorola can't prevent Microsoft from selling products until the court decides whether Motorola has lived up to its promise." Motorola, pointing to the $100 million bond Robart ordered Microsoft to post, said the ruling means Microsoft is committed to license its standard-essential patents. Motorola patent counsel K. McNeill Taylor and outside counsel Steven Pepe of Ropes & Gray was not available for comment. Motorola has not said whether it intends to appeal the temporary restraining order, which is set to last only until a May 7 hearing on Microsoft's motion for summary judgment. The Mannheim court, meanwhile, is expected to issue its ruling in Motorola's German injunction bid on May 2. (Reporting By Alison Frankel) U.S. Tech Media Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (1) bobber1956 wrote: Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Support Corrections Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn RSS Podcast Newsletters Mobile About Privacy Policy Terms of Use AdChoices Copyright Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

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