ITC clears Microsoft phones of infringing on two InterDigital patents
U.S. International Trade Commission clears Microsoft of patent infringement — Microsoft Corp avoided a potentially costly setback to its mobile phone business on Friday as the U.S. International Trade Commission declined …
Context & Ripple Effects
This reverses the arc from April, when an ITC administrative judge found Microsoft's phones infringed two InterDigital patents; Friday's decision by the full commission wipes out that loss at the agency level. It also lands nine days after Microsoft went on offense, filing a federal antitrust suit accusing InterDigital of abusive licensing practices — so within one week Microsoft beat back the infringement case and opened a separate front against the licensor itself.
The ruling fits a run of outcomes where big device makers have held off patent assertions: last month an appeals court upheld Microsoft's $14.5M jury verdict against Motorola over royalty demands, and in March a jury cleared Apple of infringing Nokia-origin patents held by Core Wireless. Licensors like InterDigital are now losing at both the courtroom and the commission.
First-order effects
- Microsoft's mobile phone business avoids what Reuters calls a potentially costly setback — any ITC exclusionary remedy tied to those two InterDigital patents is off the table.
- InterDigital loses the infringement claim entirely after winning it before the administrative judge, leaving its leverage over Microsoft resting on licensing negotiations rather than an import-order threat.
Second-order effects
- Microsoft's pending antitrust lawsuit gets stronger footing: with the ITC finding no infringement, InterDigital's asserted patents look weaker in court, pressuring its broader licensing program.
- Other handset makers negotiating with InterDigital gain precedent to resist comparable demands, following the pattern set by Microsoft's Motorola verdict and Apple's clean verdict in the Core Wireless case.
Third-order effects
- If device makers keep prevailing against licensing firms at the ITC and in juries, the industry moves toward litigated pushback as the default response to portfolio licensors rather than quick settlements like the earlier Microsoft-Samsung Android payment deal — raising the cost structure for companies whose business model depends on extracting royalties without litigation risk.
The trend: Major device makers are increasingly defeating patent-licensing firms in U.S. tribunals instead of settling, shifting leverage away from portfolio licensors.