“Apple Inc.’s chances of defeating a 1.57 billion-euro ($2.2 billion) lawsuit in Germany depend on whether an IPCom GmbH patent protects a technology using one or three bits for coding software used in wireless networks,” Karin Matussek reports for Bloomberg.
“IPCom will only win if it convinces the court the patent isn’t limited to technology using just one bit for coding information, Presiding Judge Holger Kircher said at a hearing in Mannheim, Germany, today. IPCom is relying on a patent for technology to decide what call gets priority on a mobile network when more than one is placed at the same time,” Matussek reports. “‘One or three bits, that’s the key issue here,’ said Kircher. ‘We will issue a separate ruling on this — which means we won’t even touch the question today of what amount of damages would be warranted in case of an infringement finding.'”
“‘It doesn’t really matter how many bits are used, the patent is talking about one set of information, not about the number of bits used to code that information,’ Bernhard Frohwitter, IPCom’s managing director, told the court,” Matussek reports. “Apple’s lawyer Wolrad Prinz zu Waldeck und Pyrmont argued the language of the patent is restricted to one bit while the 3G standard uses three bits. The court shouldn’t allow an interpretation that goes beyond the actual language the patent was granted for, he said.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Superior Being” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
Samsung, Google lawyers to represent patent licensing firm in tomorrow’s $2 billion Apple trial – February 10, 2014
Apple hit with $2 billion patent infringement lawsuit – February 5, 2014
Apple faces €1.57 billion patent damages claim in Germany – February 5, 2014