This week is projected to be filled with high legal drama as Microsoft Corp goes to court against Google's Motorola Mobility unit. Scheduled for this week is the second of two landmark trials between the two technology companies claims of patent infringement for smartphone and internet technology.
The trial is set in the federal court in Seattle and is before jury set to determine whether or not Motorola had breached its agreement with Microsoft to seek reasonable terms in licensing standard essential patents. These patents cover wireless and video technology utilized for the Xbox game console platform.
After five months of deliberations, a previous decision was reached by US District Judge James Robart saying that Microsoft owed only a fraction of the claimed royalties of Motorola. He decided that the appropriate rate was about USD1.8 million, which is heavily in Microsoft's favor. This was well above the estimate of Microsoft of USD1 million but is beneath the pegged demand by Motorola estimated at USD4 billion.
Motorola is restrained from filing an appeal on the decision of Judge Robart until the jury decides on the second part of the case. Both Microsoft and Google declined to make any comment on the matter.
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