Apple Loses Swipe Patent Court Battle

In the battle of the swipe, Apple has lost — at least this round, and at least in Germany.

In news reported Wednesday (Aug. 26), the tech behemoth lost in Germany’s highest civil court in litigation tied to a patent dispute over the method of unlocking smartphones with a swipe of the finger.

As noted by TechCrunch, the latest ruling backs an earlier decision in Germany that effectively voided Apple’s patent to protect the “swipe to unlock” feature on phones in Europe. The patent traces its origins to 2010 and just two years later had been used successfully to gain an injunction against Motorola and its smartphones. Motorola, for its part, appealed the 2012 verdict and injunction and seems to advance a bit with the news of the German court’s ruling against Apple earlier this week.

TechCrunch reported that the German verdict, handed down from the Federal Court of Justice, said the patent did not meet strict definitions under European law. The technology of swiping did not amount to a technical solution but rather served as an “added convenience.” And in addition, noted the German court, there had been another company, Sweden’s Neonode, which had developed the swipe mechanism that sought to unlock devices, including phones, before Apple had ever introduced the iPhone at all.

The ruling from Europe comes as the continued war between Apple and Motorola heats up. As reported earlier this month, Apple and Motorola are trying to bring their devices to the enterprise marketplace, where mobility is catching on, and the Moto G represents Motorola’s push into the enterprise with larger screens and other features. Apple has hardly elected to stay still in this arena, however, with rumors that its iPhone 7 will also target workplace users.

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