The ongoing patent wars between Apple and Motorola took a new twist when a judgement went in favour of Motorola. A German court granted an injunction against Apple which could eventually result in the ban of any Apple products selling in the European continent that violate the concerned patents.
Lawsuits are not new to Apple given that they have been the victor in four of them against Samsung. In this case however Apple seems to have received a taste of its own medicine. There have been many such cases in the past and Apple has found itself on the wrong end of this patent violation lawsuit. The decision is still at a preliminary stage; the actual decision on ‘merits’ still needs to be delivered. This judgement may require Apple viz. the single largest mobile market in European continent, to pay for mobility damages since April 2003. This is the result of violating two Motorola mobility patents.
This judgement was a result of Apple’s negligence and tactical consideration on the issue. Apple Germany has decided to fight back against this verdict; given that this is no longer a preliminary injunction and has taken effect it can be appealed against and even lifted. Apple however believes that this lawsuit won’t affect them much. This seems a rather overconfident assertion on Apple’s part, since even in Apple’s other lawsuits against competitors like Samsung, the courts have granted an injunction only when there is a concrete case presented by the plaintiff.
There is also a curious catch in this lawsuit. Motorola is in effect suing two companies, one of them is the US based parent company and the other is Apple Germany which doesn’t produce any of the company’s products. Even though Apple Germany is active in this lawsuit, the parent company doesn’t seem to have shown any involvement on the issue. There are two patents involved in this case:
- EP(European patent)1010336(B1)
- EP(European patent)0847654(B1)
An attempt has been made by Motorola in the United States also; however Apple has managed to raise a FRAND defense to stall the issue. A similar attempt was made by Apple Germany but failed in this case. Apple has merely brushed aside the case stating that it is a procedural issue and won’t affect its business in Germany. Only time will tell how Apple responds, but it surely seems that its competitors Google and Samsung are certainly enjoying the course of this lawsuit and where it is leading to.
