German Court Rules In Apple's Favor In Two Touchscreen Verdicts

A German court has ruled in favor of Apple Inc. (AAPL) in two patent infringement verdicts against several Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. (MMI) android phone products that the court said infringe Apple's slide-to-unlock technology, a Munich regional court spokeswoman said Friday.

Both verdicts, which the court reached Thursday, found two Motorola mechanisms used to lock screens infringed the German part of the European EP 1 964 022 B 1 patent, the spokeswoman said.

This patent concerns the unlocking of a touchscreen when a user sweeps a finger across a screen icon.

The products involved are Motorola's android phone models Flipout, Milestone, Milestone XT720, Milestone 2, and DEFY, or durable android smart phone, the court said.

The ruling enables Apple to prevent Motorola from further producing and selling the affected products and to demand damages of an as yet undetermined amount against a bond of EUR25 million per ruling. The court also said the verdict could be appealed.

The court however rejected a third patent infringement claim against the unlocking device used by Motorola's Xoom tablet, saying it works somewhat differently.

An Apple spokesman declined to comment on the court ruling or whether Apple would enforce the injunction. Motorola didn't immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

The verdict is the latest in a string of smartphone and tablet patent-related court cases playing out between multinational technology giants in Germany, as competition in the lucrative smartphone and tablet markets heats up.

-By Harriet Torry, Dow Jones Newswires: +49 69 29725 511: harriet.torry@dowjones.com

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