In the wake of the Apple’s $1 billion dollar verdict against Samsung, and a day after the release of the iPhone 5, Apple just won a major court decision against Google’s Motorola Mobility. Apple claims that Motorola infringed on an Apple patent covering the “rubber-banding” effect, or the “over-scroll bounce”, which stands for the bounce feedback you get when you scroll down. The effect is covered in EP2126678, the European equivalent of US Patent No. 7469381. Judge Dr. Peter Guntz ruled the decision in favour of Apple.
Apple can now post a $32 million bond, and have a country wide injunction put into effect, which poses a serious problem for Motorola Mobility. By putting up another $12.9 million, Apple can ask for all patent infringing devices to be recalled from all existing owners and have them destroyed. The court also took into account the fact that Motorola already owed Apple from past cases in the country. However the silver lining for Motorola Mobility is that the injunction can be reversed on appeal. Towards this end, Motorola is going to appeal the verdict to the Munich Higher Regional Court and try convincing the European Patent Office that the patent is not valid. The opposition to the patent could lead to partial or complete revocation. However, according to Judge Dr. Guntz, the chances of that are pretty low considering the fact that infringement cases in Germany are stayed only if there is a high probability (atleast 80 %) that the patent is invalid, and Motorola’s invalidity defense was not able to reach that mark in the court’s opinion.
However, Motorola can still work around the issue, as stock Android has a “glow” instead of the bounce effect. But this does not solve the problem, but rather degrades the Android experience. Most Android users also prefer the bounce effect to the glow.
Apple also won two other injunctions twice before they won at Munich, one with the “slide-to-unlock” patent and the other for the photo gallery flipping patent. Overall, in Germany, Motorola has infringed on three Apple patents and two Microsoft patents. But Motorola’s market share in the country is low in any case. However, the effect of the decision could hit other Android based manufacturers, and could pose a serious problem. An Apple-Samsung patent trial will also start in Germany on December 7th.
