Motorola Mobility has won a second German patent ruling against Apple over its iCloud service allowing the company to block sales of devices including iPhone and iPad if they use the software that accesses it.

The Mannheim Regional Court found Apple infringed a patent used to synchronise e-mail accounts.

The iCloud service, which was launched last year, automatically stores photos, songs and other files on servers at Apple's data centres for use on all of a customer's gadgets.

The ruling also allows Motorola Mobility to ask Apple for information about past device sales and holds Apple liable for damages, Presiding Judge Andreas Voss said today.

"The court has come to the conclusion that the wording of the patent does cover functions that were at issue here," the judge said.

Motorola Mobility, now owned by Google, won a first injunction in December it is now enforcing against Apple over claims a mobile communications patent was infringed. Overnight, Apple removed some older iPhones and iPad models from its online store in Germany in response.

Motorola Mobility has filed multiple suits against Apple in Germany and they are entangled in patent disputes in the US.

"Apple believes this old pager patent is invalid and we're appealing the court's decision," company spokesman Alan Hely said.

Apple has also appealed the December ruling, arguing Motorola refuses to license the patent to Apple on reasonable terms, despite having declared it an industry standard patent seven years ago, said Mr Hely.

Motorola Mobility can enforce today's ruling while it is on appeal on the condition that it post €100 million as collateral, according to the court decision.

The amount reflects the losses the party may suffer when forced to comply with the ruling. If it wins the appeal, it can seek damages and recover the collateral.

Apple had asked the court at a November hearing to set it at €2 billion.

Bloomberg