Motorola's management of patents deemed essential to the mobile device industry has invited investigation from authorities in the U.S. and abroad in recent years. This week, a district court ruling officially attached a monetary value to the company's patent licensing improprieties.

Like many major technology corporations, a portion of Motorola's patent portfolio is made up of fundamental inventions that anyone operating within the industry would need to take advantage of to produce viable alternatives. In the interest of market competition, patent holders are required to license these assets at fair and reasonable rates. However, courts have traditionally struggled to develop and apply formulas dictating how expensive is too expensive for certain royalties.

According to Ars Technica, jurors have now upheld a November ruling suggesting that the patent licensing fees Motorola was demanding from Microsoft were more than twice as expensive than necessary. As such, Motorola will now be liable for approximately $14.5 million in damages - pending appeal.

While few patent holders operate at similar scale to Motorola or Microsoft, the results of this case could have a transcendent impact on intellectual property law at large. According to CNET, this week's decision marks an important step toward a formalized framework that determines how much patent owners can reasonably demand from interested licensees.