This article was published on September 13, 2012

German court grants Apple a preliminary sales ban against Motorola phones and tablets


German court grants Apple a preliminary sales ban against Motorola phones and tablets

Following Apple’s successful lawsuit against Samsung, where sales bans have yet to occur, PCWorld is reporting that Apple has just won a preliminary sales ban on both Motorola phones and tablets in Germany. Stefanie Ruhwinkel, a spokeswoman for the regional court of Munich, told PCWorld that the court has ruled in favor of Apple, which sued Motorola for infringing on one of its touchscreen-related patents.

That patent, which you can see here, involves Apple’s well-known rubber-band styled overscroll bounce. Since the court has found that Motorola Mobility infringes on this patent, the company is not allowed to use it in Germany.

In addition to the sales ban, Apple is reportedly demanding sales figures from Motorola in the German market, in order to calculate its damages. Perhaps most harshly, Apple is additionally requesting a recall of all infringing devices and that they be destroyed. Below is an image of the patent in question:

The verdict is not final, but at the moment it looks like Motorola may at least have to release some sort of software fix to work around today’s ruling. No matter what, if Apple is actually successful in banning a number of Motorola’s devices, it will only help to bolster the company’s existing precedent set since its suit against Samsung.

On the Apple vs. Samsung front, an injunction hearing is set for December 6, which will decide which (if any) Samsung devices are banned in the US. Earlier today we heard wind of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak’s distaste in the recent Apple Vs Samsung verdict. You can read more on that here.

Get the TNW newsletter

Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.

Also tagged with


Published
Back to top