A ban on several of Motorola's Google Android devices is scheduled to go into effect today, but the smartphone manufacturer said it has no plans to remove the offending devices from store shelves.
The US International Trade Commission issued a limited exclusion order banning the devices from being imported to the U.S. in May.
The ITC determined that the Android devices infringe on a Microsoft patent that concerns the ways they create and schedule meetings.
But Motorola and Google haven't stood by idly waiting for the ban to take effect.
Motorola's been proactive
A Motorola spokesperson issued a statement explaining their inaction in the face of today's scheduled ban.
"While we can't share specific details, we have employed a range of proactive measures to ensure there is no continuing infringement under the ITC's interpretation of this single Microsoft patent," the spokesperson said.
Many of the Motorola Android devices that are supposed to be banned today are outdated anyway, and would be difficult to find for sale, sales ban or no.
The banned devices include:
- Atrix
- Backflip
- Bravo
- Charm
- Cliq
- Cliq 2
- Cliq XT
- Defy
- Devour
- Droid 2
- Droid 2 Global
- Droid Pro
- Droid X
- Droid X2
- Flipout
- Flipside
- Spice
- Xoom
Motorola hasn't elaborated on what exactly those "proactive measures" involve, though it's possible that they simply removed the meeting-scheduling function.
On the other hand, Microsoft also offered to license the technology to them, as they've already done for Samsung, HTC and LG.
Motorola may have lost this particular patent battle, but they may yet win another, this one also with Microsoft, to have the tech giant's Xbox 360 banned for a different infringement.
A judge recommended the Xbox 360 be banned from sale in May, shortly after the ITC's decision to ban these Motorola devices, though Microsoft was granted a reprieve in July pending further consideration.
Via Mobile Burn
