BERLIN — Is Germany’s system of litigating disputes over patents bad for business?

Microsoft’s decision to move its European logistics and distribution headquarters to the Netherlands from Germany has generated a debate over patent law here, where it is easy to block the sale of a rival’s product even before an infringement claim is verified.

Microsoft cited the potential consequences of a lawsuit brought against it in Germany by Motorola Mobility as a factor in its decision to move its logistics center to the Netherlands from Düren, a small German town near the Dutch border.

Motorola Mobility has asked a court in Mannheim, Germany, to stop Microsoft from distributing its Xbox game consoles and Windows 7 operating system software because they employ a video streaming technology that Motorola claims to own. The court in Mannheim is scheduled to rule on Motorola’s request on April 17.

Microsoft is taking no chances. Thomas Baumgärtner, a Microsoft spokesman in Unterschleissheim, Germany, said the possibility that the court in Mannheim might grant Motorola’s request and ban the European distribution of the Xbox and Windows 7 had prompted Microsoft to seek a friendlier base.