Apple dealt legal setbacks by Motorola in Germany

From CNET News.com: Apple has begun removing older iPhones from its online store in Germany due to a previous legal victory won by Motorola Mobility, according to legal blog Foss Patents. Separately, the site also reported that a German court granted Motorola's request to permanently ban Apple's push e-mail services, a key feature of its iCloud offering.

So apparently Google's decision to cough up $12.5 billion to acquire Motorola for its patent portfolio was a wise move, with the handset manufacturer scoring a decent number of legal victories against Apple. Apple and Motorola have mixed it up in several courtrooms around the world, although the litigation battle hasn't been as intense as Apple's efforts against HTC and Samsung Electronics. That Motorola is taking the high ground on the litigation front bodes well for Google, which plans to use the patent portfolio to defend its Android partners.

Apple is reportedly removing older iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, and iPhone 4 models from its online store, Foss Patents said, citing a German news service. He notes that the iPhone 4S is still available, most likely because that model switched to a Qualcomm cellular radio, as opposed to the 3G UMTS versions that came before. Also removed were iPads with similar 3G UMTS connections.

The removal has to do with a December ruling that went in Motorola's favor. That ruling found that Apple had infringed on a patent dealing with one aspect of mobile cellular technology.

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