Motorola to shell out $14 million in damages after Microsoft wins patent trial

Google-owned Motorola will now have to shell out $14 million in damages to computer giant Microsoft. The latter, in a statement issued on Wednesday, said that a jury decided in its favour in the second of two trials in a federal court in Seattle. The lawsuit dealt with Motorola Mobility's licensing of standard, essential patents that are used in Microsoft’s products.

The jury, while announcing its judgment, agreed with the company’s claim that Motorola had in fact broken the agreements made with standard-setting bodies for the license on certain patents at a fair and reasonable rate, according to Microsoft. The amount awarded by the jury to the computer giant is reportedly half of what was asked for. The damage break-up includes $11 million for the costs of relocating a warehouse in Germany due to an injunction placed on certain Microsoft products bought by the phone maker in that country. The remainder was claimed for the legal fees incurred by the company for fighting that injunction.

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The computer giant, in its statement, said that, "This is a landmark win for all who want products that are affordable and work well together." A Motorola spokesman has reportedly said that the company will plan to appeal. While talking about this, the spokesman said, "We're disappointed in this outcome, but look forward to an appeal of the new legal issues raised in this case. In the meantime, we'll focus on building great products that people love."

Microsoft awarded $14 million in damages from Motorola, according to a jury ruling

The victory for Microsoft follows a decision in its favour in another related Seattle trial last year, where the judge found that the appropriate rate for Motorola to license certain wireless and video technology used in the Xbox game console was only a fraction of what Motorola had asked for. In the earlier trial, US District Judge James Robart said the appropriate rate was about $1.8 million, slightly above Microsoft's estimate, but well below Motorola's demand for as much as $4 billion a year.

In the latest trial, Microsoft argued that Motorola's initial demand was exorbitant and a clear breach of its agreement to charge reasonable and non-discriminatory terms - commonly referred to as 'RAND' - for technology that is an industry standard.

The long-running argument between Microsoft and Motorola - and by extension Google - is just one facet of a wide-ranging global patent war surrounding smartphone and Internet technology that has drawn in Apple, Samsung, Nokia and others. At the heart of the issue, most companies are arguing over who owns the technology and design features behind smartphones, which are now essentially small computers.

More particularly, Microsoft has been locked in a battle with Google to ensure that handset makers using Google's free Android phone operating system pay Microsoft a license fee. Most large handset makers, such as Samsung, LG and HTC, have agreed to pay Microsoft a royalty on Android handsets that Microsoft believes may infringe on its patents. Motorola, which was bought by Google last year for $12.5 billion, partly because of its trove of patents, is the last big holdout.

With inputs from Reuters