In tandem with its complaint against Samsung, which led to a preliminary injunction against importing and selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in the European Union, Apple is pursuing legal action against Motorola over the Xoom tablet. In both cases, which were filed in the same German court, Apple is claiming violation of its patents, although in the Motorola complaint, it isn’t clear if it is seeking a preliminary injunction.
As the blog FOSS Patents noted, Apple could seek a permanent injunction against Motorola, rather than a preliminary one, which is a temporary measure that only turns into a permanent one after an investigation. Writer Florian Mueller has detailed the 42 patents (24 for Apple, 18 for Motorola) that Apple and Motorola are suing each other over and noted that German law doesn’t allow a preliminary injunction “if the right holder has been aware of the infringement too long,” which he said is possible in this case.
Apple filed a complaint against Motorola with the US International Trade Commission last December, but the European complaint against Motorola was buried in the initial EU filing against Samsung. Also buried in there was a complaint against an obscure German company called JAY-tech, which was not only slapped with a preliminary injunction against sale of its tablet but also had the ruling upheld in its entirety after a hearing.
Mr. Mueller said that the complaint doesn’t indicate which operating system was used in JAY-tech’s tablet, “but Android would be by far and away the most likely option.” Google has accused Apple of using the courts to stifle the sale of Android tablets and give the iPad an unfair advantage, as TMO noted last week.