An International Trade Commission judge ruled with a recommendation for the ban of Xbox 360 systems in the U.S.
The latest blow in Motorola Mobility's patent infringement case against Microsoft shouldn't come as too much of a surprise.
Last month, ITC judge David Shaw ruled in a preliminary hearing that the Xbox 360 was in violation of four Motorola patents regarding the H.264 video compression codec and wireless technologies found in both the console and its controllers.
Microsoft attempted to appeal the decision, citing that an Xbox 360 trade ban would result in a lack of market competition from consumers only having an option between Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii consoles.
However, Judge Shaw was not taken with the argument, favoring intellectual property rights over market diversity.
Not yet the end for Xbox 360
Even though the judge recommended a trade ban, the case is far from over.
The final verdict in the case now falls on the ITC's six-member board of commissioners, who have until August 23 to determine whether or not to enforce judge Shaw's recommendation.
Should the board of commissioners agree to the ban, the case will be presented to the Obama Administration with a 60-day review period during which the ruling can be signed or overturned.
In the meantime, no ban on Xbox 360 consoles is currently in place.
One patent case of many
While Motorola's case against Microsoft is on its way to the ITC board, Microsoft's own patent case against Motorola recently emerged from the ITC in Microsoft's favor.
Motorola was found to violate one of Microsoft's patents regarding the creation and scheduling of meeting requests, resulting in an unnamed selection of older devices receiving a trade ban.
The case is currently under its 60-day presidential review period.
The constant back and forth of patent lawsuits has become a worrying trend, with no clear victors when the dust settles.
Google's purchase of Motorola became official this week, allowing the search giant to inherit all of the joys of these recent patent disputes.
Google Names New Motorola CMO as Deal Closes - Advertising Age
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Report: No Deal After Samsung, Apple Patent Talks - PC Magazine
Not surprisingly, settlement talks between Apple and Samsung over their patent dispute have reportedly not resulted in any agreement.
Instead, both sides are back in court arguing over proposed sanctions.
According to a report from The Korea Times, Apple's Tim Cook and Samsung's Choi Gee-Sung failed to agree on a settlement that would have ended the companies' year-long patent fight.
According to court documents, the executives and their legal teams met in a San Francisco courtroom for nine hours on Monday and seven hours on Tuesday. Samsung and Apple have not yet filed documents about what was discussed.
A Samsung spokesman said the company is "unable to provide any details of the meeting." Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Highlighting the lack of an agreement is a Wednesday filing from Samsung that accuses Apple of concealing evidence. Specifically, "Apple withheld 283 relevant deposition transcripts (totaling more than 34,000 pages of testimony) throughout the discovery period, and indeed for six weeks thereafter, preventing Samsung from using these materials during discovery, in expert reports, and in dispositive briefing."
A Dec. 2011 decision required Apple to hand over those documents by Jan. 15, but by March 2012, it had produced just 15 documents, according to Samsung. Apple produced all 283 documents in question by April 12, but Samsung said today that that's too little, too late. Samsung asked the court to ban Apple's experts from using or relying on the information contained within the documents, and to award damages.
In March, Apple accused Samsung of doing the same thing - failing to produce source code for nine functionalities found in its devices.
Patent blogger Florian Mueller speculated today that Samsung was looking for a delay to the case. "Samsung may hope that it will take a while to sort out between the court in California and the ITC as well as other district courts which documents Apple ultimately has to make available to Samsung," he wrote in a Wednesday post. "The California court can solve the whole problem by providing the clarification Apple requests. In that case, there won't be a delay, and probably no sanctions."
For more from Chloe, follow her on Twitter @ChloeAlbanesius.
Samsung, Apple CEOs meet without coming to agreement? - CNET News
Apple CEO Tim Cook and Samsung CEO Choi Gee-sung met face-to-face over their patent disputes this week, but according to a new report, they couldn't seem to get along.
The Korea Times is reporting today, citing a Samsung "official," that the chief executives "could find no clear agreement through the talks," leaving the firms no other option but to battle it out in court.
Both Cook and Choi, as well as their general counsels, were ordered in April by Judge Lucy Koh of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to meet in San Francisco to try to reach a settlement over some of their differences. Koh said at the time that the trial would be scheduled for July 30, but if no agreement was inked, the court might be forced to push the trial back to next year to accommodate its size.
Although the chief executives reportedly didn't come to a deal, they seemed to have tried. FOSS Patents' Florian Mueller, who has followed these cases quite closely, reported today that Magistrate Judge Joseph Spero revealed in a minutes order that Cook and Choi spent nine hours in talks on Monday, and seven hours discussing the cases on Tuesday.
Apple and Samsung have been waging their bitter patent dispute across the world. Both sides argue that the other violates patents they hold related to mobile software and hardware, and are looking to have their counterpart's products banned from sale. So far, however, neither side has been able to gain the upper hand.
Apple declined CNET's request for comment. CNET has contacted Samsung for comment, and we will update this story when we have more information.
O2 blasts Ofcom for 'analytical' failings in row over 4G - Daily Telegraph
In an uncharacteristically forthright attack, O2 said the regulator had ignored its own claim that there should be two 4G providers in the market and drawn conclusions that are “irrational and fundamentally unfair”.
“It is unclear...why Ofcom has not bothered to review its own contemporaneous documents on the merger,” O2 added.
An Everything Everywhere spokesman said: “Being one of several potential companies able to launch 4G this year does not make us a 'monopoly’. This is exactly the type of rhetoric, that is designed solely to delay the launch of 4G in the UK.
Theoretically, both Vodafone and O2 could launch 4G at the moment but are unlikely to do so until after the 4G spectrum auction later this year.
Motorola In the Middle: Big Success or Failure Could Hurt Google - Top Tech News
It's official. Google has closed on its $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility. But what does this mean for the merged company? There are still more questions than answers.
In a Tuesday morning blog post, Google CEO Larry Page opined about how the phones in our pockets have become supercomputers that are changing the way we live. He pointed out how it's now possible to do things we used to think were magic -- or only possible on Star Trek. Things like getting directions on the spot, watching a video on YouTube or taking a picture and sharing it instantly with friends all over the world.
"Motorola is a great American tech company that has driven the mobile 
Motorola Gets New CEO
Although Page didn't offer much insight on what Google will do with Motorola, he did announce that Sanjay Jha, who was responsible for building the company and placing that big bet on Android, has stepped down as CEO. Long-time Googler Dennis Woodside has taken the reins.
After extolling Woodside's virtues in the blog he turned his attention back to technology, indicating that Motorola would still make mobile phones, saying: "It's a well-known fact that people tend to overestimate the impact technology will have in the short term, but underestimate its significance in the longer term.
"Many users coming online today may never use a desktop machine
Motorola's Ultimate Fate
We caught up with Avi Greengart, an analyst at Current Analysis, to get his take on what happens next with Google and Motorola. He told us he's watching to see if Google uses Motorola just for its copyrights and patents or runs it as a genuine business -- and, if the latter becomes the reality, whether or not Motorola can succeed as an independent business. (continued...)
Motorola CEO Jha quits as Google takes over - Livemint.com
San Francisco: Google Inc. closed on Tuesday its $12.5 billion deal for Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., a key manufacturer of smartphones and other devices that puts the Internet giant in head-to-head competition with Apple Inc..
Sanjay Jha. By Bloomberg
Google said it will run Motorola Mobility as a separate business unit that will be a licensee of Android, the Google operating system for mobile devices. “Android will remain open,” the company said.Heading the unit will be “long-time Googler” Dennis Woodside, who will take over from Sanjay Jha, who led the firm through this acquisition.
“The acquisition will enable Google to supercharge the Android ecosystem and will enhance competition in mobile computing,” the California-based Internet firm said in a statement.
Chief executive Larry Page said Google was acquiring “a great American tech company, with a track record of over 80 years of innovation”.
The completion of the deal dubbed “Googorola” follows approval by Chinese, US and European regulators, amid concerns on restrictions for Android, a Google-created free operating system for mobile devices.
Conditions from China’s ministry of commerce included Google keeping its Android software for smartphones and tablet computers free and open for at least five years. Regulators in the US and elsewhere have stressed that they will be watching to make sure that the Mountain View, California-based firm does not use Motorola Mobility to obtain an unfair advantage in markets.
Google acquires 17,000 patents with the purchase of Motorola Mobility and has been strengthening its patent portfolio in the fight for dominance in the booming smartphone and tablet market. Android snagged 51% of the US mobile phone operating system market in the three months to March, according to comScore, while Apple’s operating system had 30.7%. But in the tablet market, Apple’s iPad outmuscled its Android-powered rivals in early 2012, according to research firm IDC.
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