Good news: Motorola's attempt at banning the Xbox 360 in the US and Germany has failed. According to the BBC, United States judge James Robart argues that the console maker should pay the handset maker should four billion a year for using various connectivity and video codec patents.
The technologies in question pertain to connecting to the internet via Wi-Fi and videos that are coded with the H.264 format.
Robart felt that an outright ban was unnecessary due to how the patents are Frand-type innovations in his opinion. Which means technologies that have become critical to industry standards, and therefore should be licensed on fair and reasonable terms.
While many who knew about the case were not necessarily afraid that a ban would actually happen, it's a noteworthy milestone nonetheless. Over the past year especially, there have been constant litigation over disputed technologies, mostly between parties that are involved in smart phones. Including, as noted, Motorola.
So it's interesting to see such business practices spill over into the video game side. And one to wonder if such tactics will become the norm among game hardware makers as well.
