Microsoft Is Suing The U.S. Customs Office For Letting Google's Phones Into The Country

By Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesIn a lawsuit filed today, Microsoft has accused the U.S. Customs and Border Protection of having secret meetings with Google and then letting Google continue to import smartphones made by it's Motorola Mobility unit that should have been blocked, Bloomberg reports.

In May, 2012, the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) had banned Motorola Mobility phones after deciding that they infringed on a Microsoft patent for synchronizing calendar events, reports Bloomberg's Susan Decker & Tom Schoenberg.

“Customs has a clear responsibility to carry out ITC decisions, which are reached after a full trial and rigorous legal review. Here Customs repeatedly ignored its obligation and did so based on secret discussions,” Microsoft Corporate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel David Howard said in a statement.

This is not the same ban that affected the Google's Galaxy Nexus Phone for a few days back in July, 2012. That ban came from a court battle with Apple.

The ITC order to ban the phones is supposed to be in effect until Microsoft’s patent expires in April 2018. An appeal in the case is scheduled to be heard Aug. 6 in Washington, Decker and Schoenberg report.