The complaint was filed in a federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, and adds to the long-fought patent-licensing battle between the two tech giants.
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Microsoft said in its complaint that it wants to stop “InterDigital’s abusive licencing practices and unlawful monopolisation” in the field of third- and fourth-generation cellular technologies.
Microsoft filed a lawsuit claiming InterDigital has been violating its pledge to offer fair and reasonable licenses on patents related to fundamental mobile-phone technology.
When it comes to a settlement in the new case brought by Microsoft, it is asking for the court to triple any damages it awards and stipulate that InterDigital cease enforcing patents.
Microsoft claims that InterDigital “falsely promised” to license patents on a reasonable basis and then charged exorbitant amounts to Microsoft to use the patents. the Redmond-based firm went on to say that these “abusive licensing practices” over the patents violate federal anti-monopoly laws. While the worldwide Trade Commission’s main power lies in its ability to block imports of products into the United States, Wilmington-based InterDigital has said the primary goal of its litigation is to push for a licensing agreement.
There is precedent for this claim: last month, Microsoft won a lawsuit which accepted the low licensing rate it pays to use Google-owned Motorola Mobility patents. The judge said Microsoft has refused to negotiate with InterDigital in a meaningful way.
A decision from the ITC is expected on 28 August. Companies often sue at the ITC to win an import ban and in federal court to win damages.
Microsoft executives are definitely nervous at this point. This is a crucial time for Microsoft, since patent-licensing is a serious issue, and because its smartphone business could get significantly hurt if it loses the case.
The two companies are already involved in a patent lawsuit at the U.S. global Trade Commission that dates back to 2007, prior to Microsoft’s purchase of Nokia’s devices and services division in 2013. It has since been making significant efforts to increase its domination in the smartphone industry. On the other hand, InterDigital does not create anything with those patents.
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However, it is also possible that the company is punishing Microsoft with the latest patent license pricing issue for the earlier case, where the latter used its technologies without payment.
