The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal...

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld an International Trade Commission determination that some Motorola Mobility smartphones are infringing patents held by Microsoft, in violation of Section 337 of the Tariff Act (http://1.usa.gov/1gGAUAq). The ITC findings had resulted in imposition of a limited exclusion order in June 2012 banning imports of certain Motorola smartphones. Customs and Border Protection ruled in April that a design-around by Motorola allowed entry of products formerly subject to the exclusion order, which provoked an ongoing lawsuit from Microsoft at the U.S. District Court in Washington. Motorola Mobility is “disappointed with this decision but pleased with the overall outcome,” said a spokesman for the company that’s now a unit of Google. “Microsoft lost on 8 of its ‘best’ patents, and this lone opinion does not impact our ability to build great products that people love.” The ITC had no comment on the Federal Circuit’s ruling, decided Monday. “Even after a closer look by the Federal Circuit, it’s clear Google is using patented technology Microsoft worked hard to invent,” said Microsoft Deputy General Counsel David Howard.