Apple says customers will not be affected and will appeal decision
Motorola Mobility has won an injunction against Apple in Germany over the import of new iPhones and 3G-capable iPads using an unlicensed wireless intellectual property.
The case concerns copyright infringement by Apple over a Motorola patent “method for performing a countdown function during a mobile-originated transfer for a packet radio system”.
It is not known whether Motorola will enforce the ban, with the possibility of the decision being overturned at a later date on appeal.
The ruling was made on Friday after the US company failed to attend the case.
Motorola said after the case: “We will continue to take all necessary steps to protect our intellectual property, as the company's patent portfolio and licensing agreements with companies both in the U.S. and around the world are critical to our business.
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“We have been negotiating with Apple and offering them reasonable licensing terms and conditions since 2007, and will continue our efforts to resolve our global patent dispute as soon as practicable.”
In response to the ruling, an Apple spokesperson told All Things Digital: “We're going to appeal the court's ruling right away. Holiday shoppers in Germany should have no problem finding the iPad or iPhone they want.”
Ironic that the reCAPTCHA contains "Public-law", but we engineers must unite against this onslaught of phoney innovation patents.
"Method for performing a countdown during [blah condition]", the solution is defined by the problem for crying out loud.
The worst thing about these patents is that anyone with an ounce of technical knowledge can see how obvious the solution is, evident of some existing fact and just a simple application of engineering.
How can this be stopped?
- perhaps there needs to be peer reviews of some sort, and most certainly more consultation by technical experts.
- some existing patents need to be challenged too. Why does this continue?
And for those who aren't technical experts, it does not protect IP, it a stranglehold on innovation, an unfair barrier of entry to newcomers to the industry, an unfair tax on the industry for useful processes that are locked by patents, and just are just dishonest uses of patent law. The only way it protects IP is by hampering competition, and that is NOT what patents are for, it was for protecting inventors.
