Why Motorola, Lenovo cannot sell goods in Germany anymore
Motorola and Lenovo, two prominent tech companies, are facing a sales ban in Germany, because of a patent dispute with US-based InterDigital. The Munich regional court ruled in favor of InterDigital, in a WWAN patent dispute case against the two companies earlier this May. Consequently, the court verdict prevents Motorola and Lenovo from "offering or importing patent-infringing items in Germany." These include smartphones, tablets, laptops, and other gadgets capable of accessing the internet over GSM, UMTS, LTE, or 5G networks.
Sales ban enforced after security deposit
The temporary sales ban became enforceable after InterDigital deposited approximately €4.5 million with the court as security. Initially, the US company did not make the required payment, which permitted Lenovo and Motorola to continue shipping their goods to retail partners in Germany. However, on May 8, InterDigital made the deposit, which has now led to the provisional enforcement of the ban.
Companies respond to ban by removing listings
Following the enforcement of the ban, Motorola removed all mentions of mobiles from its German website. Similarly, Lenovo took down all laptop listings which violate the patent. Some configurations, however, are up for grabs until supplies are available. Third-party retailers can continue selling Motorola phones and Lenovo laptops until stocks last. After that, they must wait for the patent dispute resolution to resume sales.
Previous patent dispute and future plans
InterDigital previously lost a patent dispute suit against Lenovo in the UK in June 2023, where the court ruled that InterDigital could only demand a licensing fee of $0.175 per unit. However, Lenovo was unable to reach an agreement with InterDigital, due to a significant increase in patent licensing fees. Lenovo plans to appeal against the verdict, but given how such cases are often prolonged in court, its laptops and Motorola phones could be absent from Germany for some time.
