A court in Munich ruled on Thursday that Motorola Mobility, owned by Google Inc, had infringed an Apple Inc patent and ordered that all tablets and smartphones containing the technology be recalled.
Judge Peter Guntz said Motorola had infringed Apple’s “overscroll bounce” technology, which enables users to move documents over the screen of their device and let them bounce back to the center after releasing their fingers.
A spokeswoman for the court said the ruling was not likely to have an immediate impact as Apple would have to specifically request a ban on the product and Motorola could also appeal against the ruling.
Motorola, which had won a similar patent case in western Germany in July last year, has one month to appeal the decision.
Google bought lossmaking Motorola Mobility for US$12.5 billion last year, in its largest acquisition ever, aiming to use the company’s patents to fend off legal attacks on its Android mobile platform and expand beyond its software business.
The latest case is just one of many patent battles that technology companies have waged worldwide, while Germany has become a major battleground in the global patent war between makers of mobile phones, tablet computer devices and their operating software, as court actions there have proved to be relatively cheap and speedy.
Last month, Apple scored a landmark legal victory over Samsung Electronics Co when a US jury found the South Korean company had copied critical features of the iPhone and iPad and awarded Apple US$1.05 billion in damages.
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
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