The federal judge in Seattle said Monday he could revisit his order that not be enforced if circumstances change, representatives from Microsoft and Motorola said.

Judge James Robart, who is overseeing the dispute in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, had ordered Motorola not to enforce any injunction awarded in Germany before he had ruled on the underlying patent issues. Robart said the German ruling, if enforced, would improperly affect the negotiations between the companies.

The judge his court should be the one to decide the issue because it is where the first suit in the patent dispute was filed.

Microsoft's deputy general counsel, David Howard, said he was "pleased the temporary restraining order remains in place pending the further ruling from the court."

The case relates mainly to patents Motorola holds on video display technologies. Some of the technologies make up part of the H.264 video codec standard. Patented materials that become part of industry standards are required to be licensed under terms that are fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND). Microsoft argues that Motorola's terms -- it takes 2.25 percent of the final price of each device sold -- are not reasonable. Motorola has fired back that, by suing, Microsoft has breeched its licensing terms and freed Motorola of any obligation to license the patents to Microsoft.