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Tech companies oppose USITC's proposed import ban on Xbox

11.06.2012
The U.S. International Trade Commission should not ban the import of Microsoft's Xbox 360 gaming console into the U.S., as an administrative law judge there has recommended, because of the negative effects on the technology industry, some tech vendors and trade groups have told the commission.

IBM, Intel, Nokia, Cisco Systems, Apple and the Entertainment Software Association were filing comments opposed to USITC Judge David Shaw's that the commission ban the import of the Xbox 360 because of alleged infringement of four H.264 video decoding patents owned by Motorola Mobility and parent company Google.

The commission is scheduled to decide on June 25 whether to review Shaw's determination. If the commission does not review the decision, Shaw's recommendation of an import ban would go into effect.

Motorola had previously committed to licensing the video codec standard on reasonable and non-discriminatory (RAND) terms, and the company's decision to file a USITC patent complaint reneges on that promise, Intel wrote in its Friday filing with the commission.

"Motorola's contractual promises to accept compensation from all users of the standards leave no room for barring parties willing and able to pay RAND royalties from selling standard-compliant products," Intel's lawyers wrote.

An import ban would be "detrimental" to IBM, its lawyers wrote. Some of the Xbox's parts are manufactured by IBM in the U.S., IBM's lawyers wrote. "IBM will therefore suffer commercial harm" if the Xbox cannot be imported, they added.