Judge Robart Rules in MS v. Motorola: Seeking an Injunction on a FRAND Patent Can Be Perfectly Proper ~pj

Judge James L. Robart has now ruled [PDF, 38 pages] on Microsoft and Motorola's summary judgment motions, granting in part and denying in part.

He has ruled that seeking an injunction over a FRAND patent can be proper and is not necessarily a breach of the FRAND commitment:

Additionally, as explained above, material issues of fact exist regarding whether the October offer letters violated the duty of good faith. In addition to the rate contained in the offer letters, the jury will consider language of the letters, the circumstances surrounding the letters, the industry custom and practice, and Motorola's intent in sending the letters. Motorola has presented evidence that the letters were sent in good faith, and the jury will make the final determination....

As discussed above, in certain circumstances seeking injunctive relief may constitute a breach of the RAND commitment, whereas in other circumstances such conduct may be proper. The timing of when a party seeks injunctive relief in a separate forum relative to a pending action is germane to whether that party acted in bad faith in seeking such relief. In other words, it may very well be the case that seeking injunctive relief absent a pending lawsuit is good faith, whereas seeking the same relief during the pendency of litigation over a RAND rate is bad faith.

So it's up to the jury. He has, therefore, denied Microsoft's motion asking him to rule that Motorola violated its duty of good faith, because, he says, "there are numerous disputed issues of material fact precluding summary judgment on Microsoft's claim that Motorola violated its good faith duty." So it has to go to a jury. What does it mean? It means that the Microsoft/Apple attempt to get courts to rule that FRAND patent owners can't ever seek injunctions has failed. This court was Microsoft's best chance to win on that, and it lost.