Motorola lawsuit judge recommends Xbox 360 S sales ban in U.S.

Motorola Mobility's lawsuit against Microsoft over alleged patent infringements rages on this week, as an administrative law judge has recommended the commission in charge of the case should ban the sale of the Xbox 360 S console in the U.S. Motorola Mobility had previously claimed that Microsoft's Xbox 360 infringed on five of its patents, including video decoding and wi-fi technology from the company. Last month, a judge agreed that Microsoft has infringed on four of these patents, meaning that if the commission agrees with the judge when it meets in August, Motorola Mobility will have the chance to block imports of Xbox 360 hardware from entering the U.S. Judge David Shaw has now added his own thoughts to the case, recommending that the 4GB and 250GB versions of the Xbox 360 S console should be banned from sale in the U.S., reports Courthouse News. Microsoft argued that Shaw was not taking public interest into consideration, saying that by banning the console, it would only leave consumers with two options -- the PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii. Shaw rejected this argument, stating that enforcing intellectual property rights outweighs any potential economic impact on video game console buyers. He also noted that Microsoft has not shown proof that its competitors Sony and Nintendo were incapable of meeting consumer demand for consoles. Judge Shaw recommended that the commission should prevent sale of the Xbox console with a cease-and-desist order, whlie Microsoft should post a bond equal to 7 percent of the declared value of unsold Xbox inventory already in the U.S. A German court has already granted Motorola an injunction against the distribution of various Microsoft products in Germany earlier this month. However, a Seattle federal judge upheld a restraining order by Microsoft against Motorola, saying that he needs more time to consider Motorola Mobility's lawsuit. He also said he will most likely deny Microsoft's own action against Motorola, in which Microsoft alleges that Motorola is charging "excessive and discriminatory" royalties for patents.