Software giant Microsoft is moving its European distribution operations from Germany to the Netherlands ‘because of a patent dispute’, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Monday.

The paper says Microsoft is embroiled in a dispute in Germany with Motorola about a method for compressing videos. The courts are due to rule on April 17 and that could lead to a sales ban in Germany, prompting the logistics move, the paper claims.
A spokesman for Microsoft told the Financial Times: ‘We would have preferred to keep our European distribution centre … in Germany, as it has been for many years, but unfortunately the risk of disruption from Motorola’s patent litigation is simply too high.’
Microsoft has already ended its contract with German logistics group Arvato, part of the giant Bertelsmann conglomerate.