Apple loses patent battle

Motorola Mobility Holdings has won a German patent ruling against Apple today that may be used to block iPad and iPhone sales in a dispute over technology used in the products.

The ruling, issued by a court in Mannheim, granted an injunction and declared Apple in principle liable for damages, according to Jan Ebersohl, a lawyer for Motorola Mobility. He declined to provide more details, saying that Motorola Mobility will issue a statement later today.

"We're going to appeal the court's ruling right away," said Alan Hely, a London-based Apple spokesman, in an e-mail. "Holiday shoppers in Germany should have no problem finding the iPad or iPhone they want."

Motorola Mobility can enforce today's decision during an appeal only if it posts a bond of €100 million, according to the ruling. That figure usually reflects the potential damage the court thinks enforcing a ruling could cause to the loser. It can take several weeks to enforce a patent verdict and parties rarely enforce rulings while an appeal is pending.

Separately, Samsung won a round of its global patent fight with Apple, with an Australian court lifting a ban on the sale of its Galaxy tablet computer in time for the busy Christmas shopping season.

But the South Korean firm's triumph was tempered by a setback the previous day in Paris, where another court rejected its bid to block sales of Apple's iPhone 4S in France.

Apple and Samsung have been embroiled in some 30 legal cases in 10 countries since April, as they jostle for the top spot in the booming smartphone and tablet markets.

The Australian High Court ruling allows Samsung to offer the device to Australian shoppers for the final weeks of the key Christmas shopping season and came a week after a US court denied Apple's plea to ban Galaxy phones and tablets in the country.

Apple yesterday appealed against the US decision, which deprived the iPhone and iPad maker of crucial leverage.

In France, Samsung's bid to impose a preliminary sales ban on the iPhone 4S was rejected. Calling the request out of proportion, the court also ordered Samsung to pay €100,000 of Apple's legal fees, according to the decision.

Samsung said today it would review the written grounds for the French ruling and continue to exercise all available options to assert its intellectual property rights.

Apple first sued Samsung in the United States in April, saying the firm's smartphones and tablets slavishly copied its iPhone and iPad.

Samsung shot back, suing Apple for infringing on its telecommunications technology, and later expanded its suit to include Apple's iPhone 4S, released in October.

The South Korean firm filed preliminary injunction motions against the iPhone 4S in Japan, France, Italy and Australia in October.

In Australia, sales of iPhone 4S are allowed to continue after a court agreed to hear a patent infringement case brought by Samsung in March.

"If the Italian bid (by Samsung) also fails, the time may come for both Apple and Samsung to realise that you can't win a marathon with a sprint," said intellectual property expert Florian Mueller.

"The problem with those 'sprints' -- in terms of requests for preliminary injunctions that courts can grant after a fast-track proceeding - is that when they fail, they do nothing to enhance the credibility of the respective plaintiff."

Samsung's Galaxy tablet 10.1, which is considered one of the main alternatives to Apple's iPad, has been kept out of the Australian market since late July.

The Australian market, while not huge, is the first launch market for Apple products outside the United States.

In late November, Samsung won a rare legal victory after an Australian Federal Court unanimously decided to lift a preliminary injunction, imposed by a lower court, on sales of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Apple had appealed against the decision in the High Court, which is the final court of appeal. Apple could not be reached for comment immediately.

Samsung is the world's top smartphone maker, but a distant second to Apple in tablets.

Global tablet sales are expected to explode to more than 50 million in 2011. Apple, which has sold more than 30 million iPads so far, is expected to continue to dominate the market in the near term.

Agencies