Microsoft, Motorola millions apart on royalty payment case

Microsoft and Google's Motorola phone unit remain millions of dollars apart in their respective valuations of video and Wi-Fi patents at issue in a pivotal case before a federal judge in Seattle.

The outcome, expected sometime next year, could be a key development in the balance of power between Microsoft and Google - and the rest of the technology industry - in the running battle over ownership of the technology underlying increasingly popular smartphones, tablets and game consoles. A trial, held November 13-20 in the Western District of Washington federal court, was designed to settle the matter of how much Microsoft must pay Motorola for use of two of its standard, essential patents used in its Xbox game console and other products. In redacted post-trial filings made public on Dec 17 - essentially its final arguments before the judge - Microsoft argued that it should pay no more than $502,000 per year for Motorola's H.264 video compression patent, and no more than $736,000 per year for Motorola's 802.11 Wi-Fi technology.