마이크로소프트와 모토로라, 소송 중 판사에게 호통 당하다!

마이크로소프트와 모토로라의 특허 소송 중에 판사가 이들 두 회사의 행태에 대해 따끔한 질타를 날렸다.

판사는 시애틀 법원의 제임스 로바트.
로열티 액과 관련하여 3시간 이상 양사 간의 논박을 지켜본 후 양사에 내지른 말들!

"우리는 법원이 글로벌적인 산업분야 전반에 걸친 비즈니스 협상의 볼모로 이용되고 있다는 것을 잘 알고 있다"

"마이크로소프트와 모토로라의 행태는 상업적 이익을 지키고자 하는 노력에 의해 어쩔 수 없이 행해지고 있는 것일 것이다. 그러나 외부에서 보면 그 행위들은 독단적이고 거만하게 보이며, 솔직히 말해서 오만함에 기인한 것이다."

 

그리고 그는 쓴 웃음을 지으며 덧붙인 말.
"두 회사가 이 소송에만 소요되는 비용 정도라면 작은 국가 하나를 먹여 살릴 수도 있을 것이다."

 

로바트 판사의 말대로, 글로벌 공룡 기업들은 그들의비즈니스 협상의 문제를 법원에 끌고와서 엄청난 비용을 들여가며 치열하게 공방하고, 법원에게 그들의 공방 내용을 듣고 판단해 주기를 요구한다.
이렇게 그들이 소송을 제기하는 순간 법원은 그들의 볼모가 되고 마는 것이다.

소위 법 없이도 사는 대다수의 서민들은 그들의 싸움을 위해 상당한 비용을 직접 또는 간접으로 세금으로 지불하면서 그들의 "독단적이고 거만하며 오만한 행태"를 지켜볼 뿐이다.

 

이 제임스 로바트 판사 정말 멋있다.
저렇게 앞뒤가리지 않고 마구잡이로 싸우는 양 당사자를 어르고 달래어 진정시킬 수 있는 동네 어른 같은 모습의 판사가 진정한 판사이다.

판사는 판결로서 말한다고 하지만, 판결이 항상 최선이 아니며 모든 분쟁의 종결자로서 역할할 수도 없다.

진정 멋있는 판사는 판결이라는 칼날만 휘두르는 무림의 고수와 같은 모습은 분명 아닐 것이다.
자신이 맡은 재판을 통하여, 싸우고 있는 자들 모두에게 옳은 공동의 선을 추구하거나, 혹은 그들이 속한 사회의 보편적인 선과 정의를 실현하도록 일깨워주는 그런 그야말로 통큰 시각을 가진 판사가 진정 이 사회에 필요한 판사가 아닐까?

 

 

 

 

Judge scolds Microsoft, Motorola in latest court feud

 

"The court is well aware it is being used as a pawn in a global, industrywide business negotiation," U.S. District Judge James Robart said at the end of Monday's three-hour hearing in Seattle.

 

By Janet I. Tu

Seattle Times technology reporter

 

A Seattle courtroom hearing in a patent case fought Monday between Microsoft and Motorola may have involved lots of technical and legal jargon, but a few times the two companies' arguments sounded more like a playground dispute.

"They started this," Motorola's attorney, Jesse Jenner, said at one point about one of many rounds of litigation waged between the two companies. "We didn't start this."

And U.S. District Judge James Robart, who said he was reserving his ruling until later, ended up scolding both companies..

"The court is well aware it is being used as a pawn in a global, industrywide business negotiation," Robart said at the end of the three-hour hearing.

The conduct of both Microsoft and Motorola, he added, "has been driven by an attempt to secure commercial advantage. To an outsider looking at it, it has been arbitrary, it has been arrogant and, frankly, it has been based on hubris."

Among the issues before the judge at Monday's hearing was Microsoft's contention that Motorola breached a contract by demanding unreasonable licensing fees for use of some of its industry-standard patents. The judge was also asked to rule on Motorola's claim that Microsoft gave up its rights to license those patents at reasonable rates when it sued, rather than negotiated with, Motorola.

Microsoft also asked the judge to decide that Motorola is not entitled to any injunction against Microsoft importing products featuring Motorola's industry-standard patents under dispute.

In reserving his ruling, Robart said he would issue a written ruling on an unspecified later date.

The judge indicated his thinking when he said his preliminary view was that he would deny Microsoft's motion that Motorola breached its contract and Motorola's motion that Microsoft gave up its rights to licenses at reasonable rates.

If the two companies don't reach a settlement, a jury trial in the case is scheduled for Nov. 19.

The Seattle case is one of several patent battles being waged in cities around the world between Microsoft and Motorola, which is being acquired by Microsoft competitor Google.

The case here could help set licensing rates that Microsoft would pay Motorola in order to keep selling Xbox and Windows products worldwide. Motorola had asked courts in the U.S. and Germany to issue injunctions against the sales of some of those products.

Last week, a German judge ruled that Microsoft infringed on Motorola's patents in some of the technologies used in Xbox and Windows 7 and granted an injunction against the sales of those products in Germany.

But the injunction was unenforceable — at least for the time being — since Robart issued a temporary restraining order last month preventing Motorola from enforcing any such injunction until he reaches a decision in the Seattle case.

Further, the two companies are battling before the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington, D.C., where Motorola contends the Xbox infringes on some of Motorola's patents and has asked for an injunction preventing Microsoft from importing Xbox consoles into the U.S.

A trade-commission judge has ruled Microsoft violates four of those patents — three of which are standards-essential patents — but a six-member commission is to make the final ruling on any injunction Aug. 23.

The dispute heard Monday stems from a letter Motorola sent to Microsoft in 2010 asking for 2.25 percent of the sale price of each device that uses Xbox and Windows, since the technologies contain standards-essential patents belonging to Motorola.

Microsoft considered that rate outrageous, saying it would amount to $4 billion annually.

In arguments Monday, Microsoft's attorney, Art Harrigan, said Motorola's patents formed a very small percentage of the Windows operating system.

Motorola disputed the $4 billion figure, with one of its attorneys asserting that Microsoft "stacked" the figures to get to that amount. "Motorola has never stacked its licensing," the attorney said.

The company said after Monday's hearing that it's had a long history of licensing its patents with more than 50 companies but that Microsoft has refused to negotiate, opting instead for "an aggressive litigation strategy."

Microsoft, too, issued a statement saying it was pleased that the temporary restraining order against Motorola enforcing an injunction in Germany remains in place.

Robart pressed both sides on issues ranging from the timing of the lawsuits to whether licensing rates were offered, and negotiations attempted, in good faith.

He also noted wryly that the legal fees alone in the two companies' dispute "could finance a small country."

Janet I. Tu: 206-464-2272 or jtu@seattletimes.com. On Twitter @janettu.

 

 

Related

What's at stake in the Microsoft-Motorola disputes

Licensing fees: Motorola asked Microsoft for 2.25 percent of the sale price of products such as Xbox consoles and laptops that use industry-standard patents owned by Motorola. Microsoft says that rate is too high.

Imports: A German judge has already ruled Microsoft infringes on some of Motorola's patents and has issued an injunction against sales of Xbox and Windows products in that country. But that injunction is unenforceable for now. A U.S. International Trade Commission judge has also ruled Microsoft infringes on Motorola patents, The ITC is to rule in August on an injunction that would prevent Microsoft from importing Xbox consoles into the U.S. from China, where they are manufactured.

Other tech companies: Any licensing rate established between Microsoft and Motorola could also affect similar legal disputes between Apple and Motorola. The dispute could also affect Google, which is paying $12.5 billion to acquire Motorola, in part, it said, because of Motorola's thousands of patents.