If you don’t have an Xbox 360 yet, you might want to pick one up soon — before they’re banned stateside.
That’s a frightening possibility, thanks to a lawsuit that Motorola has leveled against Microsoft, claiming the Xbox 360′s video-decoding software infringes on one of Motorola’s patents.
Judge David Shaw has recommended that the International Trade Commission enact a ban on the future import of Xbox 360 Slim 4GB and 250GB models into the U.S. and that Microsoft should pay seven percent of the total value of unsold consoles.
While it seems unlikely that such major actions could occur, Motorola might be committed to seeing it through to the end, considering the following bit of info, as revealed by Destructoid:
last week, the ITC ruled in Microsoft’s favor for a sales and import ban on all Motorola smartphones and tablets for a patent violation on those devices.
The next step? The commander-in-chief may ultimately have to decide:
If the ITC makes the judge’s recommendation final, President Barack Obama will then have 60 days to review the decision. After that period expires, the next step is the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
All things considered, it seems unlikely such a radical step would be taken. Patent expert Florian Mueller explains that ITC judges only issue recommendations, not rulings, and that the ITC would likely take “public interest” into account.
In other words, Mueller thinks that gamers — not to mention people whose livelihood depends on the 360, such as software developers — would go berserk if this happened, so it won’t.
Let’s hope that’s the case.
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