I don’t know, the mobile space doesn’t seem to be about who can deliver the best mobile gadget these days but rather who can win a patent fight in the legal battlefront, as just lately the mobile arena has kind of been inundated with patent dispute battles, mainly to do with Apple against rival makers, and we have news on yet another Apple fight, this time with Motorola.
According to an article over on Slash Gear by way of FOSS Patents, this morning a patent fight in the German courts between Motorola Mobility and Apple, a win was handed down on Motorola’s side, which could lead to a ban of the iPhone and Apple iPad being sold in Germany.
Apparently the court ruled that Apple’s mobile device infringe European patent 1010336 for a “method for performing a countdown function during a mobile-originated transfer for a packet radio system.”
However apparently if Motorola wants to pursue a sales injunction the company has to put up a whopping 100 million Euros bond, which is to cover any losses Apple may have if the patent case was overturned when the injunction is imposed; however that 100 million is substantially less that what Apple wanted as they asked for a staggering 2 billion Euro bond.
No doubt Apple will seek a stay of the injunction whilst they lodge an appeal should Motorola go ahead in seeking a ban which would include all iPhones and possibly include the iPhone 4S, and both the Apple iPad 3G + WiFi and Apple iPad 2 WiFi + 3G.
Apparently though the general opinion is that Apple will try to get an appeals court to get Motorola to grant a compulsory FRAND licence along with minimum penalties, although Motorola could try to go the whole hog and try to get than ban put in place, so I guess it’s just a matter of wait and see.
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