Tough times for Apple. After it historic overtaking of Samsung in the sale of smartphones worldwide, to the detriment of the stainless iPhone, the bitten apple from Cupertino takes another hard hit to digest. This time not directly on the sales front, but even worse: on theage-old patent issue, which may consequently also affect its market. Moreover, in a strategically important country like Germany.
In fact, the German court has preliminarily certified the infringement by Apple of a couple of patents owned by the US company Motorola, recently acquired by Google. Motorola, in addition to compensation for damages, has also requested a total block on the distribution of Apple-branded devices in Germany. This last request (which comes later that of Samsung to the courts of France and Italy), however, is unlikely to be accepted.
However, it should be emphasized first of all that the defeat was attributed to Apple Inc. and not to the German division of the Cupertino company, therefore at most there could be some limit on the import of products but not a block on distribution in the country which obviously is entrusted to Apple Germany, which as specified is not involved in the legal dispute.
It must then be considered as the the iPhone giant has a good chance of obtaining a temporary suspension of the preliminary injunction expressed by the Court. However, the company itself has admitted that if the appeal is not upheld, there could be a negative impact on business in Germany.
However, it is not clear what will be the strategy chosen by Apple to try to win, or at least limit the damages, in the final hearing. Of course, the aspect that emerges now with greater relevance is the first important victory of the Android panorama on the universe of the bitten apple. Success also achieved by Motorola, which we recall was recently acquired by Google, and will therefore become part of the Mountain View colossus, including winning patents, in the coming weeks.
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