Apple may have been in the news earlier in the week for what can only be called the world’s most predictable product launch ever but, it looks like they’re also up to no good in Germany. The company has sued Motorola in Germany for use of the infamous “bounce back” patent. You know, the patent that says Apple are the only people in the world who not only came with the idea of bouncy scrolling but also the only people in the world that allowed to use it. The court in Munich leaned pretty heavy on Motorola as a result and dealt out some pretty harsh punishment.
The Munich court decided that a number of Motorola Mobity’s devices infringe on Apple’s patent including the XOOM, the Milestone XT7, the Atrix and the Motorola Defy. Which of course all run Android, making it pretty clear that Apple don’t care about Motorola – let’s face it, they’re not selling as much as they could be – but more Android and are willing to do whatever they can to take it down. Whilst a sales ban wasn’t technically applied to Motorola the company isn’t allowed to use the patent in Germany and so it’s pretty clean cut.
Things get a little overkill after Apple demanded Motorola disclose sales figures so that “damages” can be calculated and the Cupertino company also demanded that the offending devices be destroyed. How extreme does that sound? Well, the measure taken to ensure that the devices aren’t sold again however, I sincerely hope that they’ll be recycled because if not that would be a colossal amount of waste. The verdict isn’t quite final yet however, and Motorola could appeal or change their software in Germany in order to avoid the damages. As well as as this Apple could post a bond of roughly $32 Million to enforce the preliminary injunction. Something I’m sure Apple will green light in a blink of an eye.
I certainly hope that Moto will consider changing the software to get away from the patent as let’s be honest here, Motorola could really do without this. It’s not as if they’re a dying ship or anything but they could be right up there with Samsung if they just tried that little bit harder. One thing’s for sure though; Apple suing everybody for anything and everything they can is beginning to look a little sad. It’s gotten beyond the bully stage and now they just look pathetic.
[Source: PCWorld]