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German court dismisses Nokia patent claim against HTC, HTC 'delighted'
In HTC and Nokia's ongoing patent litigation, one patent infringement claim against HTC was dismissed today by the District Court of Mannheim, Germany. The patent in question -- regarding "a communication network terminal for accessing internet" -- describes a "terminal" that can access the internet. As FOSS Patents points out, today's dismissal was part of an ongoing collaboration between Google and Android phone makers who've been targeted by Nokia over claims against the Google Play store. "Nokia had alleged that Android's app architecture centered around the Google Play store infringes the '016 patent because of the way it allows third-party app developers to provide data to the end-user devices on which their programs run via a Google-operated server," the site notes. In that regard, today's dismissal marked a victory for Google beyond HTC -- though HTC issued a statement this afternoon exclaiming its "delight" over the court's ruling. Nokia has yet to return our request for comment.
Microsoft vs. Motorola decision sees Droids banned in Germany over FAT patent (updated)
The latest development in our neverending saga of worldwide patent warfare is a decision by a Mannheim judge banning Motorola's Android devices on the basis that they violate a FAT storage patent owned by Microsoft. FOSSPatents' Florian Mueller tweets that it is the third victory by Microsoft over Motorola, and Microsoft has already issued a triumphant statement of victory which you can read after the break. There's more details about patent EP0618540 on the site -- it deals with common name space for long and short file names -- including a note about an email from Linux creator Linus Torvalds being cited as prior art. Motorola has been swinging its own patents around as well, but most recently a case to ban the Xbox 360 was delayed. We haven't heard from Motorola or Google on this ruling yet or what their response will be -- entering into a licensing agreement or changing the storage system used on their phones are possible options. Microsoft will have to put up a 10 million euro bond to enforce an injunction if it chooses, we'll check back once the other shoe drops. Update: We've just received Motorola's response -- brief but to the point:"We are in process of reviewing the ruling, and will explore our options including appeal. We don't anticipate an impact on our operations at this time."
Nokia gets it: launches patent lawsuits against HTC, RIM and Viewsonic
Nokia has just announced that it is commencing patent litigation against HTC, Research in Motion and Viewsonic in the US and Germany. It's claiming that a number of its patents are being infringed and has registered complaints with the ITC and courts in Delaware, Dusseldorf, Munich and Mannheim. Espoo's legal chief Louise Pentland has said that while the company currently licenses its FRAND patents to "more than 40 companies," it had no choice but to lay some courtroom smack-down on the named offenders. It appears that after losing its global market share crown and billion-dollar losses, the company is finally going on the offensive with its deep patent portfolio. You can judge that for yourself when you read the official line after the break. Update: We've received some clarification from Nokia on what exactly is on the docket here. "Four of the patents asserted against Viewsonic in Mannheim are standards essential. The rest against Viewsonic and all against HTC and RIM are implementation patents, not declared essential to any standard and so we have no obligation to grant licenses."
Nokia gets nose bloodied in IPCom patent case, says it doesn't care anyway
Mannheim is gaining a reputation as the place where patent disputes go to die. The latest loser? Nokia, in a case against German firm IPCom. A saving grace for the Finnish firm, this time, seems to be that the patent in question was granted in February 2011 and all the handsets involved predate this, and are no longer on the market. That's according to the firm's spokesman at least, who also added that it would be seeking a ruling from a higher court to clarify whether current handsets are also affected by the ruling. Well, they do say things come in threes...
Apple's second slide-to-unlock case against Samsung stayed in Germany
Nothing like a little drama in the ongoing never-ending saga between Samsung and Apple to spice up your Friday morning, eh? As legions of consumers are cashing in a vacation day in order to pick up one of Apple's newest iPads, a court in Mannheim, Germany has stayed Apple's second slide-to-unlock case. According to FOSS Patents, the decision was made for the "duration of a parallel proceeding before the German Patent and Trademark Office that could lead to the revocation, in whole or in part, of Apple's slide-to-unlock utility model." Purportedly, the judge said that the court was not convinced of the "validity of that intellectual property right in all respects, with particular concern about the broadest group of claims." Lawyers who'd love to do nothing more than read about things related to their profession can tap that source link; everyone else can resume their best efforts of trying to be Woz when they grow up.
German court halts Apple's second slide-to-unlock case against Samsung
The Mannheim Court in Germany has delayed Apple's second slide-to-unlock case against Samsung, says FOSS Patents. During this pause in proceedings, the German Patent and Trademark Office is examining the validity of Apple's slide-to-unlock utility model. A utility model is a quickly-approved patent that's not presumed by the court to be valid because it hasn't been fully examined by the patent office. Now that Apple is asserting it in a lawsuit, the patent office is taking a closer look at the patent and Apple's claims. This review process takes time and other appeals could delay a final ruling in this slide-to-unlock case.
German court guns down third Samsung patent lawsuit, plus one from Apple
Mannheim judge Andreas Voss is nothing if not decisive. FOSSPatents reports he's just thrown out a third Samsung v. Apple patent lawsuit relating to use of the 3G/UMTS standard. Not to be one-sided, he's also rejected the first of two Apple v. Samsung cases involving slide-to-unlock patents. Weirdly, this latter decision appears to contradict a recent ruling by a Munich court that upheld a similar slide-to-unlock claim by Apple against Motorola, but Judge Voss and his trigger-finger aren't bothered. Keep it up old boy, and maybe we can have this whole thing nailed by the summer. Oh wait, no, both sides are expected to appeal.
German court grants injunction against Apple for infringement of Motorola patents (update: Apple responds)
Motorola just confirmed that earlier today, the Mannheim District Court in Germany granted a default judgment in its case against Apple that bars the sale of Apple products in Deutschland. In addition to the confirmation, Motorola also issued the following, rather unrevealing statement: "As media and mobility continue to converge, Motorola Mobility's patented technologies are increasingly important for innovation within the wireless and communications industries, for which Motorola Mobility has developed an industry leading intellectual property portfolio. We will continue to assert ourselves in the protection of these assets, while also ensuring that our technologies are widely available to end-users. We hope that we are able to resolve this matter, so we can focus on creating great innovations that benefit the industry."The ruling comes as a role reversal of sorts for Apple, which most recently received a pair of injunctions in Germany, banning the sale of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in that country, along with the rather embarrassing removal of the Tab 7.7 from the show floor at IFA. According to FOSS Patents this is a default judgment, meaning Apple did not respond to Moto's filing and as a result got hit with the injunction, which could result in its products being pulled or the company being required to pay damages. And so the saga continues... Dust off the pocket translator and hit up the source link for the full ruling in German.Update: We just got the following statement from Apple regarding the ruling: "This is a procedural issue, and has nothing to do with the merits of the case. It does not affect our ability to sell products or do business in Germany at this time."So, it appears our iDevice-loving German friends have nothing to worry about, at least for now.Update (11/7): FOSSPatents has posted a second update accessing the procedural rules, how they (might) affect this case and whether or not Apple has anything to worry about. If you can't get enough FRAND and Zivilprozessordnung news you can read through it -- we'll just hang on until the courts make another decision or someone's products actually get pulled from shelves.
