Motorola loses to Apple in Germany; iPhones can sell

The thick cloud of uncertainty looming over the future of the sale of iPhones, iPads in Germany is now seemingly clearing up. A collective sigh went through the Apple camp in Cupertino, on Monday, as the company managed to secure victory for itself, in its lawsuit against Motorola Mobility in Germany. The higher regional court in Karlsruhe, Germany, on Monday in a preliminary decision, as part of an ongoing lawsuit, declared that Motorola Mobility, at least for now, cannot ask Apple to halt the sales of their iPhones and iPads in Germany. Quoting the court’s ruling, the report stated that, “The licensing terms offered by Apple sufficiently addresses Motorola’s interests. At the current stage, which only allows a summary assessment of the two sides’ arguments, it is to be assumed that Motorola would be in breach of its obligations under anti-trust legislation if it continued to demand that Apple does not sell the iPhone and iPad.”

Victorious in Germany!

Those closely following our reports covering the Apple - Motorola Mobility dispute would know that the companies have been bickering bitterly over a set of patents, which Motorola Mobility claims it owns and allegedly infringed on by Apple in its iPhone 3G and 4 models and 3G/UMTS-based iPads. An effect of this was the December ruling, following which, Apple had to to stop the sale of iPhone 3G and 4 models and 3G/UMTS-based iPads at its online store in Germany. This went on for a brief period, after which Apple claimed that it chose to getting back to selling the above mentioned products on its online store in Germany. The report further states that, “Apple has been fighting the injunction since then, saying Motorola should allow it to use its patented technology because companies in the mobile device sector cannot get around using it if they want to remain competitive. Motorola has said it has negotiated with Apple and offered it “reasonable licensing terms and conditions since 2007”.

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Sometime this month, reports about Apple securing a partial victory in Germany against Motorola Mobility surfaced, revealing that their ‘slide-to-unlock’ patent had saved the day for them. 

Reuters