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How quickly these things happen. Motorola succeeded yesterday in forcing Apple to pull several of its iPad and iPhone models from sale in Germany, following a patent dispute. But just a few hours later, Apple had succeeded in overturning the ban, the BBC reports.
Though Germans may still lose push email in iCloud, following a separate ruling. Can’t we all just get along?
The initial ban came after Motorola Mobility enforced a patent injunction against Apple, following a court ruling that said Apple had failed to licence one of Moto’s wireless intellectual properties. The patent apparently relates to Motorola’s “method for performing a countdown function during a mobile-originated transfer for a packet radio system.”
Basically, Moto’s tech is deemed industry-standard, so anyone wanting to use it has to pay it a fee. Apple has agreed to this from now on, but there’s a dispute as to the amount it owes in back payments.
The ban applied to Apple’s online store in Germany, but not its shops.
Apple said it was appealing the ruling “because Motorola repeatedly refuses to licence this patent to Apple on reasonable terms, despite having declared it an industry standard payment seven years ago.” It succeeded in overturning the ban just a few hours later.
An Apple statement said, “All iPad and iPhone models will be back on sale through Apple’s online store in Germany shortly.” And they are.
But Moto wasn’t taking it lying down. “We are pleased that the Mannheim court has recognised the importance of our intellectual property and granted an enforceable injunction in Germany against Apple Sale International,” it said in a statement. “Although the enforcement of the injunction has been temporarily suspended, Motorola Mobility will continue to pursue its claims against Apple.”
Apple has previously banned Samsung devices from sale, though this was since overturned. Recently things haven’t been going Apple’s way in the court. Google is currently in the process of taking over Motorola, so expect the war between Moto and Apple to only get worse.
What do you make of it all? Let us know in the comments below, or over on our Facebook page.
