Microsoft files antitrust suit in Delaware

Microsoft Corp. is claiming InterDigital Inc. has been violating its pledge to offer fair and reasonable licenses on patents related to fundamental mobile-phone technology.

The company filed an antitrust lawsuit Thursday in federal court in Wilmington a week before a U.S. trade agency is set to rule on a long-running dispute on whether Microsoft- made Nokia phones infringed its patents and should be blocked from the U.S.

A U.S. trade judge in Washington said in April that Microsoft has been unwilling to license InterDigital patents on standardized technology. In the new complaint, Microsoft argues that it’s InterDigital that’s the bad actor.

Microsoft said in its suit that it wants to stop “InterDigital’s abusive licensing practices and unlawful monopolization” in the field of third- and fourth-generation cellular technologies. It said InterDigital has “engaged in an unlawful scheme to acquire and exploit monopoly power over technology necessary for companies to make 3G and 4G cellular devices.”

InterDigital said it will fight the case “vigorously.”

“InterDigital has a long track record of standards contributions and fair licensing practices,” said Patrick Van de Wille, a company spokesman.

The trade case was first filed in August 2007, before Nokia sold its handset business to Microsoft. While the International Trade Commission’s main power lies in its ability to block imports of products into the United States, Wilmington-based InterDigital has said the primary goal of its litigation is to push for a licensing agreement.

Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, is crying foul. In addition to the threatening ITC case, InterDigital is trying to force an overpriced license that covers all of InterDigital’s patents, not just those needed to comply with the industry standard, the software maker contends.

-- Bloomberg News