Microsoft sues Motorola over Xbox royalties: WSJ

Software major Microsoft Corp sued Motorola for the second time in as many months, claiming that the handset maker was seeking unreasonable royalties for technology it used in its Xbox game console, said a media report.

"Microsoft Corp sued Motorola Inc for the second time in as many months, claiming the handset maker is seeking unreasonable royalties for technology the software maker uses in its Xbox game console," reported the Wall Street Journal.

Microsoft alleged that Motorola has breached commitments made to standards organisations including the International Telecommunications Union for 'reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms and conditions' in patent licenses for various wireless and video-coding technologies, the report said, citing Microsoft's filing in the US district Court.

According to the publication, Motorola said it had worked with Microsoft to reach a licensing agreement for its technology, but "unfortunately, despite a fair offer from handset maker, software major was unwilling to enter into a licensing agreement."

The filing follows a previous suit the software company launched against the handset maker in an October, claiming infringement of nine patents by Motorola handsets powered by Google's Android software.

The suit also comes amid a rash of intellectual-property legal battles involving many high-tech giants. In July, for example, NTP Inc filed patent-infringement suits against Microsoft, Motorola, Apple Inc, Google, HTC Corp and LG Electronics over the wireless delivery of email to cellphones.

Then in October, Apple sued Motorola, alleging the company's smartphone lineup infringed on the iPhone maker's intellectual property. This followed an earlier suit Apple waged against HTC, which like Motorola, makes Android phones.