Yesterday Microsoft filed a patent infringement action against Motorola that relates to Android-based devices, with the Motorola Droid 2 named as an example in most of the nine claims.
Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of Microsoft's Intellectual Property and Licensing team, said "Microsoft filed an action today in the International Trade Commission and in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington against Motorola, Inc. for infringement of nine Microsoft patents by Motorola’s Android-based smartphones. The patents at issue relate to a range of functionality embodied in Motorola’s Android smartphone devices that are essential to the smartphone user experience, including synchronizing email, calendars and contacts, scheduling meetings, and notifying applications of changes in signal strength and battery power. We have a responsibility to our customers, partners, and shareholders to safeguard the billions of dollars we invest each year in bringing innovative software products and services to market. Motorola needs to stop its infringement of our patented inventions in its Android smartphones."
Microsoft signed a patent agreement with HTC in April to cover smartphones running the Android OS.