By Apple lost a patent lawsuit to Motorola in Germany last week that forced their hand in briefly removing their 3G-enabled iOS products from store shelves. The lawsuit covered 3G/UMTS technology. While the products have returned, Apple is not in the clear.
Motorola is still seeking damages of 2.25% of the revenue from each 3G-enabled Apple product sold. At that rate, Motorola would be owed $2.1 billion since the launch of the first iPhone in 2007, plus royalty for future sales.
It may not seem like much considering Apple’s cash reserves of nearly $100 billion but it would definitely be a nice payday for Motorola who have been losing money for quite sometime (though they are on the right track).
This figure might be denied as it may violate the FRAND rules that Motorola must operate under. Since the patent they hold is now a worldwide standard, they cannot deny Apple a fair shot at using the patent.
They can still force Apple to pay for licensing the patent but the price per unit amount must be reasonable as decided by the judge overseeing the case. Either way, Motorola stands to be paid from one of the most lucrative mobile businesses in the world. [Engadget]
“This figure might be denied as it may violate the FRAND rules that Motorola must operate under. Since the patent they hold is now a worldwide standard, they cannot deny Apple a fair shot at using the patent.”
FRAND doesn’t cover past breeches of patents, the amount they can ask for is up in the air. FRAND only sets guidelines for pricing on current/future patent use requests.
Not sure what you are saying makes sense, maybe you need to clarify.
As part of a standard, Motorola is required to licence the patent to whomever is willing to pay on a Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory basis. But that’s for licensing for current/future sales.
Since Apple chose *not* to licence the patent(s) for their past devices, that counts as an infringement of the patent, and for that Motorola can (in principle) charge what they like.
i.e. They don’t need to fully play by “FRAND” rules for collecting payment for past infringements – only for current licensing of their patents…
As Nelson would say “Ha-haw , Apple” !
Stick that apple core right up their rears…
I hope Moto and Google take Apple for as much as they can.
$2.1 billion to a direct competitor hurts on every level, regardless how much they have in the bank. Add to that the buyout of Motorola Mobility by Google, Jobs has to be rolling in his grave.
$2.1 billion would take care of the Motto purchase price.
well the first iPhone did not have 3g so that doesn’t count in any area of this lawsuit
I might be naive but I actually trust the courts to do what is right here. Whatever that is.
Not enough, companies already pay license fees to Motorola for 3G radio patents. Apple banked that they could use the patents without paying, if Motorola sued, Apple would claim FRAND and get reimbursement from Motorola for court time. This isn’t a simple patent claim like “it’s rectangular” or “slide to unlock” (things that had prior art or are not inductive of the system to operate), it’s a direct “We are more powerful than you” statement. Apple should be forced to do what they ask of their competition, banned. Lol. But really, 5% plus legal fees.
If motorola wants to get back to making money they need to go back to old school tactics. They are trying to revive thur “razr” name. they could make do much more money if they released a Razr for every carrier. It doesn’t have to have the “Droid” moniker, just call it the Razr. Keep it simple, and release the same phone across all carriers. Sure you need differences for the networks, but that’s about all. Releasing a completely different phone for each carrier has to be a lot more costly then releasing one phone for them all. Make the Razr you’re trademark phone, like Samsung did the galaxys lineup, then have a few carrier exclusives. i’m sure that’ll help the profits
There is a Motorola RAZR, it’s available in Europe. It’s a cracker of a phone, tough as nails, and very functional. Thoroughly recommended if you can get one!