Germany’s Federal Patent Court Rules in Apple’s Favor and Invalidates Samsung Wireless Standard-Essential Patents (SEPs)

by Jason Bracey on Apr 12th 2013, 1:10am
tagged apple, european commission, Germany, lawsuit, patent, Samsung

Germany’s Federal Patent Court (GFPC) ruled in favor of Apple Wednesday when it invalidated the German part of Samsung’s European Patent Specification, “turbo encoding/decoding device and method for precessing frame data according to QoS” (EP1005726, including proposed amendments), which Samsung stated was essential for UMTS, the 3G wireless standard.

As is the case in most of these rulings, Samsung has the opportunity to appeal the decision to the German Federal Court of Justice. Samsung has sought injunctions against Apple over this, as well as other numerous SEPs. » Read the rest

Motorola Decides To Remove All Of Its Android Offerings From German Market

by Roy Alugbue on Oct 10th 2012, 8:58am
tagged Android smartphones, Android Tablets, Germany, Google, lawsuits, motorola, patent infringement

And just like that, Motorola devices are no longer listed for sale in Germany. Despite Motorola not being found to infringe on some Microsoft patents, Motorola has all but begun its exodus out of the German markets. As of this time, no Android smartphones or tablets are listed on Motorola’s website. There is the belief that Motorola may have pulled the devices in order to rework the software in order to avoid infringing on any patents, but then again— Motorola has a clearly stated the following:

“As we have previously stated Motorola Mobility is focusing on fewer mobile devices. As a result we have phased out some of our lower tier devices in Europe/Germany.”

A focus on selling fewer mobile devices huh? Considering the Motorola Android devices are wildly popular in Germany, we can only hope that ~~Google~~ Motorola knows what it’s doing.

source: The Guardian UK

Apple and Motorola Strike Licensing Deal in Germany

by Ed Caggiani on Aug 29th 2012, 1:03am
tagged apple, FRAND, Germany, motorola, Motorola Mobility, patents

On Monday, a filing was made with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in which Motorola Mobility (Google) and Apple entered into a standard-essential (FRAND) patent license agreement. The agreement states that Apple is now licensed to use Motorola’s FRAND patents in Germany. The royalty rate has yet to be set.

Now you have to understand, when it comes to standard-essential patents, the patent owner (Moto) must agree to a licensing deal with a competitor (Apple) if that competitor makes an offer to accept a licensing arrangement. The patent holder cannot refuse without blatantly violating antitrust law. That also means that Apple is essentially admitting to infringing the patents and is liable for past damages.

The filing only covers “cellular standard-essential” patents, leaving Wi-Fi and video codecs open for a later fight. Or separate licensing deals could be struck for those if both parties are tired of fighting.

Hmm, perhaps Microsoft had the right idea all along avoiding the courts and sleeping with its enemies instead. It sure is much less expensive.

source: foss patents
via: engadget

ASUS Transformer Pad TF700KL Heading to Germany On Vodafone’s LTE Network

by Dominick DeVito on Aug 25th 2012, 12:00pm
tagged asus, Asus Transformer, dual-core, Germany, LTE, Snapdragon S4, Transformer Pad TF700KL

A press release from Vodafone has confirmed the ASUS Transformer Pad TF700KL is heading to Germany, a Transformer Pad TF700 with 4G LTE connectivity. The new LTE Transformer will initially launch in Germany, but will soon be available in other Vodafone stores across Europe – with the exception of Italy, which has not yet upgraded their network infrastructure to support LTE.

Unlike its Transformer TF700 siblings the TF700KL will be powered by a more power efficient dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor clocked at 1.5GHz (rather than the quad-core 1.6GHz Nvidia Tegra 3), which was most likely chosen due to LTE’s demanding battery life. Its display will be covered in Corning’s Gorilla Glass 2 which will allow the device to be thinner, but will still support a dazzling full 1920 x 1080 HD resolution. Other specs remain identical such as 1GB RAM, storage options of 16GB, 32GB or 64G, and as always an expandable microSD card slot.

The top-of-the-line TF700KL 64GB model will be priced at a hefty €819 ($1025 USD) for non subsidized customers and €169 ($211 USD) with a contract.

Source: Engadget
via: Notebook Italia

Motorola Infringes on Microsoft’s FAT patent, German Android Devices Banned

by Justin Crouch on Jul 27th 2012, 11:13pm
tagged FAT, file system, Germany, litigation, microsoft, motorola

The Mannheim Regional Court has ruled in Microsoft’s favor regarding the FAT patent. What is FAT? FAT stands for File Allocation Table, a legacy file system still widely used, mostly for backward compatibility. The German court has granted a request for a ban on all relevant devices, according to Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents. Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, David Howard had this to say.

“Today’s decision, which follows similar rulings in the U.S. and Germany, is further proof that Motorola Mobility is broadly infringing Microsoft’s intellectual property. We will continue to enforce injunctions against Motorola Mobility products in those countries and hope they will join other Android device makers by taking a license to Microsoft’s patented inventions.” » Read the rest

Samsung Scores Another Hit Against Apple In Germany, Galaxy Nexus And Galaxy Tab 10.1N Still On Store Shelves

by Ed Caggiani on Jul 27th 2012, 12:24am
tagged apple, galaxy nexus, Galaxy Tab 10.1N, Germany, lawsuit, Samsung

Watching the epic legal battles between Apple and Samsung is like watching a boxing match, each side scoring hits of their own, round after round. This time it’s Samsung scoring a solid uppercut in the German courts, which upheld a previous February ruling that invalidated Apple’s patent relating to “list scrolling and document translation, scaling, and rotation on a touch-screen display.”

So what does that mean? It means that the Galaxy Nexus and the Galaxy Tab 10.1N will continue being sold in Germany. The 10.1N is on a legal roll in Germany, where a couple days ago in Dusseldorf it won against Apple’s complaint about the look of the device, though the Galaxy Tab 7.7 was not so lucky. Samsung, of course, is very happy with these decisions, but the silence from the folks in Cupertino is deafening. Makes you wonder what Apple’s next attack plan is and whether they will score the next left hook.

source: macworld
via: engadget

ASUS Transformer Pad TF300 LTE Props Up Using O2 Germany’s LTE Network

by Roy Alugbue on Jul 6th 2012, 10:58am
tagged ASUS Transformer Pad TF300, Germany, O2, tablets, Transformer Pad TF300 LTE

After we saw the ASUS Transformer Pad TF300 LTE try to sneak past FCC offices, we now know the device is very much real and on its way— well in Germany at least. A coy video has popped up using Germany’s O2 network and highlighting the network’s superior LTE speeds pushing through to the speedy tablet. Okay sure there’s no idea of when the Germans (or other LTE markets in the world for that matter) can expect to see the LTE variant in stores, but hey— at least seeing the video in action means the Transformer Pad TF300 LTE will be here sooner than we know it. You can check out a quick walkthrough of the video below as well as the LTE benchmarks.

source: Engadget

Apple wins injunction against Motorola in Germany – Motorola shrugs nonchalantly

by Chris Stewart on Mar 1st 2012, 2:53pm
tagged apple, Apple v. Motorola, Germany, motorola, patents

Seconds out, Round 10! Another day, another few haymakers thrown in the ongoing court battle between Apple and… well, everyone! Apple and Motorola seem to have a permanent residency within the German courts and today has seen Apple awarded an injunction against all Motorola products that violate on a patent related to photo management. The patent injunction specifically relates to the scroll animations within Motorola’s photo gallery.

The doors had barely shut at the Munich Regional Court in Germany before Motorola came forward with the following statement :

Today’s ruling in Munich, Germany on the patent litigation brought by Apple concerns a software feature associated with performing certain functions when viewing photos in a ‘zoomed in’ mode on mobile devices. We note that the Court ruled that performing the functions in a ‘zoomed out’ mode does not infringe on this patent. We expect no impact to supply or future sales as we have already implemented a new way to view photos on our products that does not interfere with the user experience.

So there you have it, Apple have seemingly won an injunction that prevents Motorola devices from doing something they don’t actually do. The litigation roller-coaster continues and you can bet your mortgage that there will be more fun and games to come over the next few months. I think this particular round is a split decision on the judges scorecards.

source : FOSS patents

Samsung Galaxy SII V2 Discovered On EU Retailer’s Website

by Josh O'Donnell on Feb 16th 2012, 11:42am
tagged cyberport, Galaxy SII, Germany, update, v2

The Samsung Galaxy SII is an absolutely fantastic phone as it is right now. With a dual-core processor running at 1.2/1.5GhZ (depending on your carrier), 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage and a gorgeous Super AMOLED Plus screen to tap away at, the Galaxy SII could very well be a top Android contender for a little while longer.

However, the long speculated Galaxy SII V2 has appeared on a German retailer Cyberport’s website. Although the updated specs found on the website aren’t anything to really write home about, the phone does include a 1.2GhZ Texas Instruments OMAP dual-core processor as well as quadband GSM/GPRS/EDGE and quadband UMTS/HSDPA+/HSUPA support. Although only a marginal update in specifications, if you live in Germany and were planning on purchasing a GSII, this might be enough to put off a purchase until it’s released. You can pre-order the device from the retailer’s website, and it’ll run you about €469.90, €10 more than the current iteration of the GSII.

source: cyberport

Galaxy Tab 10.1N cleared for sale by German court

by Chris Stewart on Feb 10th 2012, 8:23am
tagged apple, galaxy tab, Germany, Sales ban, Samsung

I hope the Execs at Samsung and Apple have a nice discount for hotel bookings in Germany as the 2 tech giants are in the docks overseas yet again.

The case for the prosecution on this occasion is Apple’s claim that the reworked Galaxy 10.1N tablet is still not significantly different from the iPad. The original 10.1 tab has been banned from sale in Germany since September 2011 after the courts backed Apple’s campaign to ban the device. In the latest chapter, the state court in Düsseldorf has ruled in Samsung’s favour stating that the redesigned 10.1N should not be banned as there are “clear differences” between the two tablets.

Apple and Samsung are currently locked in courtroom battles in several countries across the world and the recent string of rulings against Apple doesn’t seem to be deterring the Cupertino giants. Are you tired of reading about litigation instead of innovation? Let us hear your thoughts.

Source : Reuters

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