Microsoft has won a sales injunction against Motorola Mobility after a German court ruled that the Android OS infringes a Microsoft patent related to "communicating multi-part messages between cellular devices using a standardised interface".
 
The sales ban is provisionally enforceable by Microsoft if it puts up a EUR25 million bond to cover Motorola’s losses if it is able to overturn the decision.
 
The Munich regional court took the decision six days after the US International Trade Commission ordered an import ban on Android-powered Motorola smartphone that infringe a Microsoft patent related to event scheduling.

FOSS Patents’ Florian Mueller said that as the patent in question covers operating system-level functionality, the changes Google and Android would need to make to the technology would lead to complications, including apps that use Android’s messaging later being rewritten.

In contrast, two previous injunctions Motorola lost in Germany related to user interface patents that were relatively simple to engineer around.

Microsoft hasn’t been successful in all of its legal cases with Motorola though. Earlier this month, Motorola won German injunctions against Microsoft but was unable to enforce them due to a preliminary injunction ordered by a US District Court in Washington.

Google’s US$12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola was confirmed on Monday.