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Microsoft wins injunction against Motorola in German court, aims to strike patent license deal
Motorola and Microsoft are no strangers to the patent war tango, and today marks the third injunction against the Droid maker in the German court. Judge Dr. Guntz of the Munich I regional court ruled that Motorola infringes on a Microsoft patent for "soft input panel system and method," granting Microsoft the ability to ban sales of some Motorola devices in the country. Essentially, the patent in question covers the software required to let applications flexibly receive input from different sources, such as the touchscreen keyboard and voice input. As Florian Mueller of Foss Patents points out, the functionality covered by this patent is utilized by the vast majority of apps, and among Android device makers only Google-owned Motorola Mobility is not paying Microsoft a patent license for this feature. Microsoft Corporate Vice President David Howard issued a statement with a not-so-subtle dig at the company in question: "We will continue to enforce injunctions against Motorola products in Germany and hope Motorola will join other Android device makers by taking a license to Microsoft's patented inventions." Google can (and most certainly will) appeal the ruling, so the saga continues...
Apple could get temporary suspension of Motorola injunction
On Friday, a German court granted Motorola an injunction against Apple and awarded damages in a patent infringement case. This ruling was a default judgment handed to Motorola because Apple, for some unknown reason, failed to defend itself in this case. Much confusion exists over the impact of this decision. Apple responded in a statement to CNET and claimed "This is a procedural issue and has nothing to do with the merits of the case." Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet also said, "It does not affect our ability to do business or sell products in Germany at this time." According to FOSS Patents, the key words in Apple's statement are "at this time." Apple could petition the German court and will likely receive a temporary suspension of the default judgment. This request for a second judgment, based on the merits of the case and not on a default decision, could bring the case all the way to the Federal Court of Justice and could take years to complete. If Apple fails to convince the courts to grant a temporary stay, this injunction could have a material impact on Apple's business in Germany. As of the writing of this post, Apple has not filed for a temporary suspension but could do so within the next two weeks. For full analysis of this sticky legal situation, you should read Florian Mueller's report which includes input from German lawyers.
