A US court ruled that Motorola Mobility cannot call for a German court to ban the sale of certain Microsoft products, following a dispute about the licensing of certain patents related to video technology.

In a statement, David Howard, Microsoft’s deputy general counsel, said: “Motorola promised to make its patents available to Microsoft and other companies on fair and reasonable terms. Today’s ruling means Motorola can’t prevent Microsoft from selling products until the court decides whether Motorola has lived up to its promise.”

According to IDG News Service, Microsoft argued that if the German injunction went ahead, which may have compelled it to negotiate with Motorola according to German law, the US courts would lose the opportunity to make its own rulings on a similar issue. Because Microsoft filed a suit against Motorola in the US related to worldwide licensing before Motorola took its action in Germany, the US court should be given the chance to rule, it said.

The decision to prevent Motorola from enforcing the ban was decided to cause the least harm, because it maintains the status quo – rather than calling for Microsoft to remove its products from sale, or negotiate a deal with an injunction hanging over its head.

Motorola is one of several companies in the spotlight over its licensing of patents related to standards on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, with the European Commission recently beginning an investigation following a complaint from Microsoft.