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A district court in Germany has imposed a sales ban on the smartphones manufactured by Lenovo and Motorola over a legal dispute. Motorola was doing very well in the EU market and its recently announced Motorola Edge 50 series was also performing very well. But this sudden judgment by the legal body has forced the brand to completely stop the sale of its devices in a major EU market.
A German court has banned Motorola from selling smartphones in the state
Motorola was facing a legal dispute with a US technology firm InterDigital over the reported accusation of patent infringement. The Munich district court has issued its judgment in the case. The judgment bans Motorola and Lenovo from selling their smartphones in Germany, including the Edge 50 series.
The actual dispute was between the parent company of Motorola i.e., Lenovo against InterDigital. InterDigital filed a case in the court against Lenovo for patent infringement regarding the WWAN module. This module is responsible for wireless communication across smartphones and other gadgets.
The court realized that Lenovo broke the rules
The court ruled, following a series of hearings, to ban the sale of all Lenovo and Motorola smartphones in Germany that utilize the WWAN module. This ban prohibits the sale of any device in the country that uses GSM, UMTS, LTE, or 5G networks. Lenovo replies to this by saying that the terms and conditions of InterDigital aren’t fair.
Anyway, as a result of the ruling, Motorola has taken down all the smartphones from its official website and is selling only some selected accessories. Lenovo, on the other hand, will continue to sell the products but only until the stock lasts.
The court placed provisional enforcement on Lenovo after the US-based firm deposited more than four million euros on May 8th. “This means Lenovo is prohibited from selling or importing allegedly patent-infringing devices in Germany. In addition, damages must be paid,” a court spokesman told Wirtschaftswoche.