An ongoing patent dispute between Microsoft and Motorola, the smartphone maker recently bought by Google, threatens the sale of the Xbox 360 gaming console in the United States. At the core of the dispute lies ActiveSync, an auto-updating calendar software.

ActiveSync is available for Android phones; Microsoft is demanding royalties and has settled with most phone manufacturers, with Motorola the outstanding company. Motorola has reportedly offered to pay Microsoft 33 cents for every Android phone using the aforementioned software along with Microsoft paying 2.5 percent and 50 cent royalties for Xbox 360s sold and copies of Windows implementing the patent respectively.

Microsoft is also infringing on patents which cover integrated Wi-Fi and video decoding. The International Trade Commission said Microsoft infringed on four of the five patents and would decide whether to block sales of the Xbox 360, which declined by 40 percent in the May 2012 NPD numbers despite 160,000 units sold.

Note the ITC would block imports, probably from China. The console doesn't sell as well in the latter region - the PSP is still selling incredibly well thanks to the release of Monster Hunter - and regions such as the UK are much smaller.

The Xbox 360 was previously banned in Germany for infringing on Motorola patents, though it was allowed to go on sale again in the region.

Microsoft said the demands made by Motorola were "far in excess of market rates, that refuses to license all the Microsoft patents infringed by Motorola, and that is promptly leaked to the press" Microsoft's deputy general counsel - Horacio Gutierrez - said in an e-mailed statement.

The International Trade Commission has also recommended bans on Android devices using the ActiveSync patent, along with the Xbox 360, until a settlement is reached.

If banned, though probably temporarily, the summer's quiet period for game releases means prospective owners won't be able to buy the console. Even if the console is banned in the U.S., Microsoft will likely work quickly to get the console back on store shelves. Stay tuned for if, or when, the banning order is issued.