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Motorola reportedly has taken 'measures' to get around ITC import ban going into effect tomorrow

Motorola reportedly has taken 'measures' to get around ITC import ban going into effect tomorrow

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An ITC ban on Motorola's Android products goes into effect tomorrow, but the company has reportedly taken measures to make sure it can continue providing products to US customers.

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Back in May, the International Trade Commission sided with Microsoft in a patent dispute against Motorola and its Android devices — Motorola faced an import ban that would go into effect within 60 days because its Android phones and tablets violated an Exchange ActiveSync patent. With the 60-day period expiring tomorrow, the ITC's ban will go into effect — but Motorola told Ars Technica that it has plans in place to get around the ban. In a statement, the company said that it "has taken proactive measures to ensure that our industry leading smartphones remain available to consumers in the US." What isn't yet known is what exactly those plans are, and we're not surprised to hear that Motorola is keeping them close to its vest for now.

Of course, Motorola could decide to pay Microsoft for a license to the technology, or it could simply push a software update to its devices that remove or change the infringing feature — a tactic that HTC employed when the One X and Evo 4G LTE were held at customs due to an Apple patent claim. We're not the only ones who aren't sure what Motorola will be doing to get around the ban, as Microsoft also told Ars Technica that "we do not have information on how [Motorola] will comply." Another possibility is that Motorola has imported enough stock of its affected products to meet US demand, but we'll have to wait to find out exactly what the company has planned. Furthermore, the fact that the ban goes into effect tomorrow doesn't mean that Motorola imports will automatically be blocked — US Customs will still need to act on this order for specific products, and that may not necessarily happen right away.