Microsoft Wins US Import Ban On Motorola's Android Devices

jbrodkin writes "The U.S. International Trade Commission today ordered an import ban on Motorola Mobility Android products, agreeing with Microsoft that the devices infringe a Microsoft patent on 'generating meeting requests' from a mobile device. The import ban stems from a December ruling that the Motorola Atrix, Droid, and Xoom (among 18 total devices) infringed the patent, which Microsoft says is related to Exchange ActiveSync technology. Today, the ITC said in a 'final determination of violation' (PDF) that 'the appropriate form of relief in this investigation is a limited exclusion order prohibiting the unlicensed entry for consumption of mobile devices, associated software and components thereof covered by ... United States Patent No. 6,370,566 and that are manufactured abroad by or on behalf of, or imported by or on behalf of, Motorola.' Motorola (which is being acquired by Google) was the last major Android device maker not to pay off Microsoft in a patent licensing deal. Microsoft has already responded to the decision, saying it hopes Motorola will now reconsider."

Comments

Generating meeting requests?

[Anonymous Coward]

Are you f'ing kidding me? The inmates really are running the asylum.

Re:Generating meeting requests?

[Anonymous Coward]

Please read the whole summary carefully:
from a mobile device

These 4 words let you rehash any old shit into a patent no matter how obvious.

Glad they found something important to ban

[cvtan]

Once again - Generating Meeting Requests? That's certainly a good reason to ban a product. That's all I use my phone for!

Why the google hate?

[firesyde424]

Last time I looked(a few seconds ago), Motorola was being sued, not Google. Google was not even thinking about buying Motorola when those devices were made. So how is this Google hate even relevant?

And the solution is...

[roc97007]

...don't use Exchange. Then you don't have to have a feature on your mobile device that will generate appointments for it. Problem solved.

If you're currently using Exchange, perhaps now is the time to think about using a cloud service for email.

The claims

[DeadCatX2]

FTFA: claims 1, 2, 5, or 6 of the United States Patent No. 6,370,566

FTFP:

1. A mobile device, comprising:

        an object store;
        an application program configured to maintain objects on the object store;
        a user input mechanism configured to receive user input information;
        a synchronization component configured to synchronize individual objects stored on the object store with remote objects stored on a remote object store;
        a communications component configured to communicate with a remote device containing the remote object store; and
        wherein the application program is further configured to generate a meeting object and an electronic mail scheduling request object based on the user input information.

2. The mobile device of claim 1 wherein the application program is configured to generate the meeting object with a global identifier property uniquely identifying the meeting object among a plurality of other objects.

5. The mobile device of claim 1 wherein the application program further comprises:

        a contacts application program configured to maintain objects on the object store indicative of contact information wherein the contact information includes address information indicative of a fully qualified electronic mail addresses for individuals identified by the contact information; and
        wherein the application program is configured to obtain the fully qualified electronic mail address of potential attendees identified by the contact information by interaction with the contacts application program.

6. The mobile device of claim 1 wherein the application program is configured to generate the meeting object and the electronic mail scheduling request object such that properties of the objects are compatible with at least a second application program associated with the remote object store and different from the application program.

Claim 1: A mobile device.

Claim 2: Using a GUID.

Claim 5: And an address book.

Claim 6: Which talks to a remote server.

...

We're fucking doomed.

Can anyone reading this story

[circletimessquare]

not think that patents are utterly useless and absurd?

The "invention" in question is laughable beyond belief.

The defendent and plaintiff are mutlinational corporations. Not a little guy that needs protecting.

How do the lawyers whose lifework is this nonsense make sense of their lives? At the end of the day, in your old age, what is the value of your life's work? Did you make anything? Did you help anyone? Or did you shuffle words around a disgusting nonsensical argument foisted on some other lawyers for the sake of absurd privations? What a completely and utterly useless and despicable existence.

Why do we as a society tolerate this useless sideshow? Oh, because of all the money involved, right.

Re:Justice was fairly served

[ackthpt]

If you cannot do business honestly, don't do it at all.

Yeah, if Microsoft were held to that particular standard they would have been out of business a long time ago.

Microsoft has hardly been an innovator. I wonder who they bought the patent from.

Patent office should be held responsible

[Grieviant]

Generating meeting requests? Seriously, how the fuck is that an innovation that someone skilled in the art would not be able to come up with? It's time the patent office was held responsible for enabling patent trolling by lowering the bar to the ground. How about a system where any patent that ends up being overturned requires the patent office to pay the associated legal fees? You'd need a 3rd party to conduct the reexaminations to avoid conflict of interest, but it might do something to stem the tide of handing out junk patents like penny candy.