German court rules Apple's email push breaches Motorola patents

A German court upheld on Friday an earlier ruling that Apple's MobileMe and iCloud, with email push notification feature, violated two Motorola patents, leading to an injunction banning Apple from offering such services in Germany.

The Mannheim regional court ruled that Apple's iCloud and MobileMe services, which can automatically informs users about new emails on devices like iPhone and iPad, breached the patents held by Motorola Mobility, and Apple was responsible for damages, although the exact amount has not been specified.

The judge also determined that Apple was still not allowed to offer the email push services to iCloud and MobileMe users in Germany.

The ruling marked another victory of Motorola in its patent row with Apple. In February, the Mannheim regional court granted Motorola an injunction that forced Apple to halt iCloud push services in Germany.

Apple and Motorola have been embroiled in a series of patent battles across Europe.

While Motorola accused Apple of infringement on the 3G-related patents for its best-selling iPhone and 3G-based iPad, Apple, together with Microsoft, asked for an investigation on whether Motorola is abusing its market position on patents to block competitions and charging excessive licensing prices for its patents.

After Friday's ruling, an Apple spokeswoman said the company decides to appeal against the injunction, while a Motorola spokesperson said the company was pleased with the ruling.

With the email push feature disabled, iPhone and iPad users in Germany could check new emails by setting regular intervals of Mail apps, or manually refreshing these apps.