Microsoft has accused US customs of conspiring with Google

Microsoft accused the US Customs and Border Service of refusing to comply with the decision of the International Trade Commission (ITC) to ban the import of Motorola Mobility phones, which is a division of Google, reports Bloomberg.

The import ban on Motorola phones was imposed last May, when ITC decided that Motorola Mobility devices violate Microsoft's patents on how mobile phones synchronize calendar events with other computers. Microsoft filed a lawsuit against customs yesterday, saying the ban is not being respected.

As stated in the complaint by Microsoft, the US Customs and Border Guard Service continues to let Motorola Mobility phones into the country after secret meetings with Google, although Google did not do anything to remove the function that caused the ban. The import ban should be valid until April 2018, when the Microsoft patent expires.
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"Customs is fully responsible for the implementation of ITC decisions, which are made after a full trial and strict legal expertise," Microsoft said, "However, in this case, customs have repeatedly ignored their obligations and did so on the basis of secret negotiations."

Motorola Mobility allegedly convinced customs that the ban applies to synchronization through Microsoft servers, not Google, and received a reprieve so that the changes take effect. Microsoft claims that ITC previously rejected these arguments.

Google responded that US customs only refused Microsoft to try to expand its patent claims, the purpose of which is “to prevent Americans from using a wide range of legitimate calendar functions, such as scheduling meetings, on their mobile phones.”