Apple’s ongoing patent war with Motorola Mobility may well be over after a German court ruled Motorola can not enforce the standard-essential patent injunction against Apple whilst the two carry out their appeals.
Sitting at the Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court, judgement was passed stating that Motorola had no right to withhold these patents against the Cupertino firm.
While this may not capture the headlines which are sure to come Apple’s way with the March launch of the iPad 3, the news about what has happened in Karlsruhe could be more significant for all concerned.
The matter revolves around the patent for FRAND (Fair, Reasonable And Non-Discrimatory) for all similar tablet and smart phone devices. Apple have used their intelligence and requested the chance to licence technology as part of the FRAND agreement.
Therefore the German court’s decision effectively means that Motorola can not reject the request without breaking anti-trust laws.
It could mean that Android devices cost a great deal more in future as the tablet will have to have royalties and other licensing fees built in to its overall recommended retail price.
Serious consequences could be felt from this ruling, especially as Google has not yet completed their deal to buy out Motorola for $12.5 million, partially based on the belief that the court case would turn in Motorola’s (and therefore Google’s favour) against Apple and to a lesser extent Microsoft.
Some analysts have even suggested that Google drops the purchase and pays out the break out fee which is rumoured to be in the region of $2.5 million, however it is thought that Google would not be prepared to do that.
