by Luke Thomas
Apple has won their first patent dispute against Motorola Mobility, relating to the “slide to unlock” functionality included in some smartphones.
The feature, which involves unlocking a phone ready for use by moving a human finger across its screen, is the subject of a patent, EP1964022, which is owned by Apple – but has appeared on Motorola smartphones as well.
While the ruling affects only the sale of phones with this feature in Germany, there are expectations that it could have a knock-on effect on legal disputes involving Android devices across the world.
This could lead to a pitched legal battle, especially since the Motorola Mobility brand is currently under acquisition by Google, whose Android smartphones are the biggest competitor to Apple’s iPhones.
The majority of Motorola phones already run on the Android operating system, so their fate is heavily intertwined with that of Google’s market fortunes.
Florian Mueller, a patent consultant, commented that “Apple is already asserting the slide-to-unlock patent in different jurisdictions against all three leading Android device makers and might use it against even more of them going forward.”
This legal victory may therefore bolster Apple’s case in making their claims in the courts of other countries and jurisdictions, which could spell big trouble for Google.
A spokeswoman for Motorola, however, claimed that the company would appeal against the judgment, and that it would have no effect on the production or supply of the device in question as a new design for the functionality had already been put in place. She also stated that the slide to unlock feature was only included with “select” Motorola smartphones.
No commentary was forthcoming from Apple relating to the ruling. A decision was also due on an Apple patent relating to browsing photo galleries on smartphones, but this ruling has currently been delayed.