Judge calls for Microsoft Xbox ban in US
A judge at the US-based International Trade Commission (ITC) has called for some Microsoft Xbox consoles to be banned from being imported to, or sold in, the US.
Judge David Shaw’s recommendation covers the 4GB and 250GB versions of the Xbox 360. He added that Microsoft should post a bond equal to 7 percent of the declared value of unsold Xbox inventory already in the country.
Shaw’s recommendation follows his earlier ruling that Microsoft infringed four patents owned by Motorola Mobility. In April 2012 he said the Xbox violated patents covering wireless communication, and transmission of video content between controller devices and game consoles.
At the time Shaw did not advocate a ban on sales or imports but has since amended that recommendation, which the ITC released on May 22, 2012.
The document shows that Microsoft argued that an exclusion order against the Xbox did not serve the public interest because it would allow consumers to choose from only two video games consoles: the Sony PlayStation and Nintendo Wii.
Shaw rejected Microsoft’s arguments as “not persuasive”. He said there was a “strong public interest” in enforcing IP rights, and not enforcing those rights because of a potential economic impact should only occur “in exceptional circumstances”.
As we went to press the case was due to be heard by a six-member board at the ITC. The board has until August 23, 2012, to decide on the case, which will be sent to the Obama administration if it is not overturned or sent back for further consideration. The administration would then have 60 days to either sign off or reject the ruling.
This dispute is just one part of a complex patent war that the companies have been fighting for several years.
Earlier in May, a federal judge in Seattle blocked an attempt by a German judge to ban sales of some Microsoft products in Germany. The Mannheim Regional Court had ruled that Microsoft violated patents owned by Motorola.
In a separate ITC ruling on May 18, 2012, Microsoft secured a victory over Motorola. The panel ruled that the mobile phone maker infringed one Microsoft patent for software that generated and scheduled meeting requests on mobile devices. The ITC has recommended that Motorola devices using the infringing software should be banned from being imported into the US.
