German court rules Microsoft infringed Motorola patents

A court ruled yesterday that Microsoft infringed Motorola Mobility’s patents and ordered Microsoft to remove its Xbox 360 consoles and Windows 7 operating system software from the German market.

Judge Holger Kircher said in a court in Mannheim, Microsoft breached an agreement with Motorola — which is in the process of being bought by Google — in using certain video-compression software in products including Windows 7 and Xbox.

The Mannheim case is related to the larger smartphone patent war being fought by Apple, Microsoft and mobile phone makers who use Google’s Android software such as Samsung.