| By Maureen O'Gara |
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| December 13, 2011 09:00 AM EST |
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2,417 |
Well, if Motorola Mobility antes up a $134 million bond in case it's ultimately defeated and if Apple can't get a stay from an appeals court then Motorola will be able to stop Apple's iPhones and iPads from entering Germany, Europe's largest market.
A regional German court Friday gave Motorola a preliminary injunction against Apple Sales International in Ireland from whence new Apple products flow.
The court said Apple infringed a standard-essential MMI cellular communications patent related to data packet transfer technology (GPRS).
Motorola can also hit Apple up for damages going back to 2003. How much remains to be decided after Apple turns over German sales data to MMI.
Apple, which wanted a $2.7 billion bond from Moto and got turned down, figures it's got enough inventory in Germany to tide it over the holidays.
Motorola said in a statement Friday that it's been negotiating with Apple since 2007. According to the decision Apple at some point apparently offered to license all of Motorola's FRAND-pledged patents but MMI said no.
FOSS Patents says Moto's lawyers overcame Apple's FRAND defense by arguing that Apple doesn't want to pay for past infringement going back to 2007, merely going forward and reserved the right to contest the validity of the patent-in-suit. MMI wants it both ways.
It said it "will continue our efforts to resolve our global patent dispute as soon as practicable."
Meanwhile, back in the states Apple has filed notice it means to appeal a California court's refusal to block the sales of Samsung Galaxy tablets and phones for patent infringement on December 2. It will take the issue to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, DC.
Over in Australia Samsung was able to get the temporary injunction that Apple got against its Galaxy Tab 10.1 lifted, giving it a shot at Christmas sales ahead of a patent infringement trial after an Apple appeal bid was denied on Friday. Apple has widely claimed the Tab is an iPad knockoff.
The Samsung tablet has been temporarily outlawed in Germany.
Apple is also waiting to hear if HTC Android-based phones will be banned from the US for patent infringement by the International Trade Commission on December 14.
See http://fosspatents.blogspot.com/2011/12/motorola-mobility-wins-german-patent.html.
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