A temporary injunction against the sale of iPhones and iPads have been lifted on the ground that Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc.’s continued insistence on the ban could run afoul of antitrust law.
In December 2011, Motorola successful convinced a German court to enjoin Apple’s sales of the products on the ground that they infringed a Motorola patent related to data packet transfer technology. Apple then sought to suspend the injunction, lodging a “compulsory licensing antitrust objection,” claiming Motorola had to grant a license for the patent at issue and that barring the use of the “standard essential” patent would stifle competition. The lower court rejected Apple’s proposed licensing terms, but Apple later amended its proposal to include a provision allowing Motorola to terminate the deal if Apple were to challenge the patent’s validity. With that change, the court concluded, Motorola could violate antitrust law if it were to continue to prevent Apple from selling iPads and iPhones.
In a related dispute, Apple is seeking a declaratory judgment against Motorola in California federal court concerning its use of Qualcomm components in the iPhone 4S, which Motorola claims
infringe its patent. Apple claims that it, as a Qualcomm customer, is a third-party beneficiary of a licensing agreement between Motorola and Qualcomm. In addition, Apple asserts that it “is entitled to a permanent anti-suit injunction enjoining Motorola from continuing to prosecute litigation in Germany alleging that Apple infringes its patents by virtue of incorporating Qualcomm chips into its products.”