The Mannheim Regional Court in Germany ruled on Friday that the push email service in iCloud and MobileMe infringes on Motorola Mobility patents and awarded the company an injunction blocking Apple from using the feature, as well as blocking any devices that take advantage of the feature. Assuming Motorola chooses to act on the injunction, Apple would have to stop offering push email service through iCloud and MobileMe in Germany.
Push email lets users know they have new messages without requiring them to open the Mail app on their iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. Without the feature, users have to set Mail to check for new messages on a set schedule, or launch the app to let messages download.
“Today’s judgment is appealable (which is why it’s only ‘preliminarily enforceable’), and it’s a given that Apple will appeal this to the Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court,” said Flourian Muller of Foss Patents. “The term ‘preliminary enforceable’ means that Motorola can seek its enforcement anytime now if it posts a €100 million bond, but if an appeals court overturns the ruling, Motorola will be liable for premature enforcement of an improperly-granted injunction.”
The court ruling is the second legal blow Apple faced in Germany on Friday. The company also pulled the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPad 2 with 3G support from its German website after Motorola chose to enforce an injunction blocking the sale of the devices.
Apple’s legal team is working on plans to appeal both of the injunctions.