Google Withdraws Allegations Against Microsoft Pertaining to H.264 Patents


By: Zain Nabi  |   January 9th, 2013   |   Google, News

Google has withdrawn its allegation against Microsoft pertaining to the H.264 Patents, a standard for video compression that Microsoft wants to use for the Xbox.

 

Microsoft sought licence from Google’s Motorola Mobility for the standards-essential patent, but both parties failed to reach an agreement. As per different reports, Microsoft claimed that Google had been demanding unfair terms with respect to licensing.

 

Google had asked Microsoft to pay royalty for using the video compression technology. According to various media reports, the total value that Google would have got if Microsoft had agreed to pay the royalty was around $4 billion.

 

Motorola Mobility had filed a complaint against Microsoft for violations of five patents back in 2010. During the course of last couple of years, Motorola Mobility filed for termination of a few violations, but it continued the matter regarding the H.264 Patents.

 

Recently, Google and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission reached a settlement regarding the licensing matter, which prompted Microsoft to anticipate that Google would withdraw its allegations with respect to the H.264 Patents, and the same has happened now.

 

However, Google has not yet withdrawn other allegations and it continues to fight the case with respect to violation of other patents. Investigations will be carried out to determine if Microsoft has actually violated any terms and conditions, unless Google decides to withdraw its remaining claims as well.

 

Earlier when Google reached the settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, there was an ambiguity as to what course of action Google would pursue and whether the settlement would affect the outcome of the other pending cases. However, the situation has now become clearer now as Google has reportedly withdrawn some of its claims, not all.

 

Source: AllThingsD

Photo: Newsbeast

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