Microsoft today filed a patent infringement action against Motorola, claiming that Motorola's Android devices infringe on various Microsoft patents.
According to a statement from Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of Intellectual Property and Licensing for Microsoft, the patents at issue relate to "a range of functionality embodied in Motorola's Android smartphone devices that are essential to the smartphone user experience, including synchronizing email, calendars and contacts, scheduling meetings, and notifying applications of changes in signal strength and battery power."
Motorola is one of the key OEMs behind Verizon Wireless' Droid franchise. Motorola recently released the Droid X and Droid II Android-based smartphones as successors to the original Droid.
"We have a responsibility to our customers, partners, and shareholders to safeguard the billions of dollars we invest each year in bringing innovative software products and services to market," Gutierrez wrote in the statement.
Motorola wasn't immediately available for comment.