APPLE HAS come off worst in two separate legal battles with rivals in Germany and Australia.
Motorola Mobility Holdings won a German patent ruling against Apple yesterday 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 a lawyer for Motorola Mobility. He declined to provide more details.
Apple said it would appeal.
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 it would review the written grounds for the French ruling and continue to exercise all available options to assert its intellectual property rights. – (Bloomberg/Reuters)
