Motorola proposes way to end patent war with Microsoft

Google's Motorola Mobility unit has made offers to Microsoft in hopes of settling a pair of contentious patent infringement suits in which Motorola's smartphones were using Microsoft's patented ActiveSync software, while Microsoft's Xbox 360 was using Motorola's patented video compression system.

Motorola offered to pay 33 cents to Microsoft for every smartphone it ships with ActiveSync software in order to avoid an import ban from the International Trade Commission. ActiveSync was developed by Microsoft to push e-mail and other notifications to smartphones, and in 2010 Microsoft sued the phone company (then unaffiliated with Google) for infringement. At the time Microsoft specifically accused the Droid 2 and the Charm of infringing patents. Motorola has also offered an olive branch of sorts to Microsoft, lowering its demands for licensing fees on the proprietary video compression software found on devices running Windows to 50 cents per unit that uses the software. In addition, Motorola is asking for 2.5 percent of the retail price on each Xbox 360.