Motorola reportedly secures injunction against Apple in Germany
The tables have (allegedly) turned. Motorola Mobility has secured an injunction against the sale of Apple mobile products in Germany, according to FOSS Patents' Florian Mueller.
Citing "a copy of what purports to be a default judgment by the Mannheim Regional Court," this would mean that Apple is prohibited from selling any mobile devices that infringe upon on two Motorola patents in Germany.
Additionally, Apple would owe MMI financial damages for patent infringement stemming back from at least April 19, 2003. Wow.
Here are the two patents supposedly in question:
EP (European Patent) 1010336 (B1) on a "method for performing a countdown function during a mobile-originated transfer for a packet radio system"; this is the European equivalent of U.S. Patent No. 6,359,898
EP (European Patent) 0847654 (B1) on a "multiple pager status synchronization system and method"; this is the European equivalent of U.S. Patent No. 5,754,119
The document also stipulates that the court "declared the default judgment preliminarily enforceable," which means that MMI can enforce a ban against any Apple mobile devices sold in Germany. Definitely not good timing with the recent release of the iPhone 4S and the holiday shopping season.
Again, note that this hasn't been confirmed yet. Mueller writes that if the file he received that turns out to "be a hoax, it would be an incredibly sophisticated one."
Neither Motorola Mobility nor Apple have made an official announcement regarding this manner yet.
But if accurate, this would be a major defeat for Apple in its Android-related legal woes in the European Union, which also involve spats with HTC and Samsung.
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