After Finnish tech firm Nokia won its patent dispute against Daimler last month, Japan’s Sharp just handed the carmaker its second court defeat in three weeks, regarding the use of mobile technology in its models.
A Munich court granted an injunction to the tech company, allowing Sharp to ban sales of Daimler vehicles, with authorities deciding that the carmaker used Sharp tech without a license, reports Autonews Europe.
This suit is part of a larger legal battle that Daimler is engaged in, against several technology companies.
Nokia, who joined forces with Sharp in this case, won its injunction against Daimler in Mannheim on August 18, but has yet to enforce it. The court ruled that Nokia can only go ahead with the sales ban if it posts a collateral of 7 billion euros ($8.3 billion).
“We cannot understand the verdict of the Mannheim court and will appeal,” said Daimler last month in an emailed statement. “We don’t assume there’ll be a sales ban.”
However, the Munich court was more lenient with Sharp, imposing a collateral of just 5.5 million euros, making this judgement much easier to enforce – meaning Daimler may actually have to sweat this one.
The German carmaker can of course still appeal the court’s decision, and if that happens, the ruling could only be enforced if/when the winner posts collateral. This appeal (if it happens), should represent a much more important case for Daimler, one that they definitely will not want to lose.