The International Trade Commission (ITC) on Thursday said that Microsoft's Xbox entertainment system did not violate a patent owned by Google's Motorola Mobility.
Motorola Mobility had accused Microsoft of infringing upon five patents when it filed its complaint in 2010. Four were dropped later. The last patent, which was related to the way devices wirelessly over short distances, was decided not to be reviewed by ITC, as "Motorola waived its indirect infringement argument and (2) Motorola failed to
establish indirect infringement on the merits," according to a
published notice.
"This is a win for Xbox customers and confirms our view that Google had no grounds to block our products," David Howard, a Microsoft deputy general counsel, said in a statement.
Motorola was "disappointed with this decision" and is evaluating its options, Motorola said in a statement.
In April 2012, ITC Judge David Shaw said in a preliminary decision that Microsoft infringed four patents and did not infringe on a fifth. But in June 2012, the trade panel sent the case back to the judge for reconsideration.
Google in January asked a trade panel to drop two patents from the complaint because they were essential to a standard.
In March, an ITC judge said that Microsoft did not infringe that technology and recommended that the case be terminated. The full ITC followed that recommendation on Thursday.
A different ruling could have barred the Xbox from being imported into the United States.