After scoring a resounding victory against Samsung, Apple is about to gain more leverage. The Cupertino company has agreed to lisence standard-essential patents from Motorola. In doing so Apple has stop Motorola from enforcing an injunction around these patent.
According to FossPatent:
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This Motorola-Apple license agreement at a FRAND rate left to be determined by the courts was concluded during this month of August. Here’s what the parties said about Apple’s offer and Motorola’s acceptance. First, Apple’s second amended antisuit complaint against Motorola Mobility of August 3, 2012, said the following about Apple’s Orange-Book-style offer:
48. Apple has made an offer to license Motorola’s declared cellular standards-essential patents from Motorola for the purpose of selling products in Germany. In light of Motorola’s obligation to license these patents on FRAND terms, the Higher Regional Court of Karlsruhe has determined that Motorola must accept Apple’s licensing terms or be in violation of German antitrust law. Accordingly, given the requirements of German law and the ruling of the Higher Regional Court of Karlsruhe, the question of liability is no longer an issue in Germany, although the parties will continue to litigate the amount of damages Apple must pay Motorola for the past infringement Motorola alleges and the amount of a FRAND license.”
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The report from Mueller went on to state that :
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In yesterday’s answer to Apple’s second amended antisuit complaint, Motorola has now officially confirmed its acceptance of Apple’s offer, and, therefore, the conclusion of a license agreement:
48. Motorola admits that Apple has made offers to license Motorola’s declared cellular standards-essential patents. Motorola is without sufficient information to form a belief as to the truth or falsity of the remaining allegations of the first sentence in Paragraph 28 and therefore denies same. The Higher Regional Court of Karlsruhe has not made a final determination regarding whether Apple’s FRAND offer is valid, an allegation that has been mooted by Motorola’s acceptance of the offer after Apple admitted liability for past damages for infringement [emphasis mine], and on those bases, Motorola denies the allegations of the second sentence of Paragraph 48. Motorola admits that the question of liability is no longer an issue in Germany because Apple has voluntarily acknowledged its liability for past damages even though this issue is pending before the Karlsruhe appellate court regarding [Apple Sales International]’s liability for infringement of the ‘336 patent. Motorola admits that the parties will continue to litigate in the future the amount of damages Apple must pay Motorola for the past infringement and the amount of a FRAND license. Motorola denies the remaining allegations of Paragraph 48.
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According to Mueller, “It appears that Google (Motorola) cracked down under pressure. The Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court had only made a summary and non-final determination that Motorola’s refusal of Apple’s offer was an antitrust violation, but Google (Motorola) didn’t want to take its chances. The German courts would have let Google (Motorola) continue to refuse to accept the offer, but at some point, Apple could then have sought damages for an antitrust violation.”
Source: FossPatent
