A US appeals court on Friday ruled that Google Inc's Motorola Mobility unit cannot enforce a patent injunction that it obtained against Microsoft Corp in Germany, diminishing Google's leverage in the ongoing smartphone patent wars. The injunction would have barred Microsoft from "offering, marketing, using or importing or possessing" in Germany some products including the Xbox 360 and certain Windows software.
The ruling against the German injunction came from the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. Microsoft deputy general counsel David Howard said the company was pleased with the ruling. A representative for Google's Motorola unit declined to comment.
Brian Love, a professor at Santa Clara Law school in Silicon Valley, said the decision helps Microsoft counteract a favourable dynamic for Google in Germany. "To some extent Germany has a reputation as place you can go and get an injunction relatively easy," Love said. The current Xbox 360 is the market-leading console in the United States.