An International Trade Commission (ITC) judge has thrown out Barnes & Noble's antitrust claims against Microsoft.
Details are scant about today's ruling, which came from an ITC administrative law judge, but a one-liner on the docket says the commission approved Microsoft's motion to dismiss Barnes & Noble's patent misuse claim.
In November, Microsoft asked the ITC to investigate whether Microsoft is using its Android patent effort to secure a monopoly on the mobile phone market.
The move comes days before the two sides are set to face off in an evidentiary trial, which will now instead focus on patent validity, infringement, and domestic industry questions, according to patent blogger Florian Mueller.
The battle between Microsoft and Barnes & Noble goes back almost a year. In March 2011, Redmond filed suit against the retailer for patent infringement regarding its Android-based Nook e-readers. Microsoft holds patents relating to navigation and how Web sites display content; technology used on the Android platform. Microsoft tried to come to a licensing agreement with Barnes & Noble regarding the Nook, but to no avail, the company said.
In a blog post, Mueller said that the ITC's Office of Unfair Import Investigations (OUII) had indicated support for Microsoft's position prior to today's ruling. "The OUII basically concluded that even if all of what Barnes & Noble said about Microsoft's use of patents against Android was accurate, it would fall far short of the legal requirements for a patent misuse defense," he wrote.
In October, Microsoft announced that it had secured deals for the "majority" of Android devices. Mueller speculated today that such "a level of acceptance ... wouldn't be possible if Microsoft's terms were as unreasonable as Barnes & Noble alleged."
"My concern was that Barnes & Noble's 'defense' was actually an assault on the very concept of patent licensing," Mueller continued. "If Microsoft really wanted to destroy Android (which is what Barnes & Noble pretty much alleged to be the objective), it would seek injunctions against Barnes & Noble's and other vendors' Android-based devices instead of selling licenses to more than 70 percent of the market."
"Today's action by the ITC makes clear that Barnes & Noble's patent misuse defense was meritless. This case is only about one thing – patent infringement by Barnes & Noble's Android-based devices," David Howard, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel at Microsoft, said in a statement. "We remain as open as ever to extending a license to Barnes & Noble, and invite them to join many other major device makers in paying for the Microsoft-developed intellectual property they use in their devices."
A Barnes & Noble spokeswoman said the company had no comment.
It should be noted that Mueller last year was commissioned by Microsoft for a patent study, which has prompted some grumblings from companies like Google about conflicts of interest. In an October interview with PaidContent, however, Mueller denied any conflict and said he has "had consistent positions for many years" and works with a large number of clients.
Editor's Note: This story was updated on Wednesday with comment from Barnes & Noble and Microsoft.