Please, just make it all stop! As much as we all love a bit of scandal and gossip (yes, all of us), the Patent Wars between every major mobile device hardware and/or software vendor is reaching new heights.
Well Apple has been able to add another tick in the win column, this time beating Google. A German court has made Apple victors in a case against Google, early this morning, according to FOSS Patents’ Florian Mueller.
A quick example of the rubber banding on the iPhone
It’s been ruled that Motorola smartphones and tablets have infringed on a patent more commonly referred to as ‘rubber banding’. This is where a user will reach the end of a scrolling list, only to get a snap back effect letting them know.
Apple has multiple options open to them at the moment. It comes down to this:
- A 25 million Euro bond, Apple can get all devices blocked from sale
- A 35 million Euro bond, Apple can get all devices recalled
- A 45 million Euro bond, Apple can get all devices destroyed
You read that right; destroyed! Mueller has stated:
It was Motorola who decided to attack Apple and Microsoft in Germany at a time when those companies were suing Motorola only in the United States. Now Motorola has already been found by German courts to infringe three Apple and two Microsoft patents. Since it doesn't have much market share in Germany, the immediate business impact of these decisions is asymmetrical to the impact of any ruling against Apple or Microsoft in this country. But the outcome of those cases shows that Android has far bigger patent infringement problems than any piece of computer software has ever had in the history of the industry, and this has many of Google's hardware partners profoundly concerned.
German courts have a lot of love for Apple products. We’ve had the Galaxy Tab 10.1 blocked from sale with a revised version allowed to be sold shortly after. It should also be noted that in July, Germany banned Motorola Android phones due to infringing on a Microsoft patent.
Source: CNN
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