Motorola has been denied injunction to prevent the release of Microsoft products. The mobile phone outfit, which is now under the control of Google, had applied for an injuction which would have forced Microsoft to reach a deal out of court.

However a District Judge in Seattle denied Motorola Mobility an injunction on Microsoft's products that allegedly infringe its H.264 and 802.11 standards-essential patents. Judge James L. Robart's ruling applies not only to patents in the suit, but also to H.264 European patents at issue in the lawsuit.

He said that Motorola could not show irreparable harm or that monetary damages after the trial is sorted out would be inadequate. The court agreed with Redmond that injunctive relief is improper in this matter. The lawsuit in Seattle involves two standards-- Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' 802.11 wireless local area network standard and the International Telecommunication Union's H.264 advanced video coding technology standard.

Microsoft had filed a motion for partial summary judgement dismissing an injunction sought by Motorola for patent infringement of Motorola-owned H.264 standard-essential patents subject to RAND commitments. Really what is being disputed is that Motorola seeks to charge Microsoft too much. The Judge is to decide the royalty rate, thus perhaps laying a framework for resolving similar disputes over royalty for standards patents.