Looks like Samsung's not the only one that's having good luck against Apple in the court room. Today it's been revealed that a German court has ruled in Motorola's favor in a patent lawsuit that the company brought against Apple back in April. The court ruled that Apple's iPhones ranging from the original 2007 model up to the iPhone 4, as well as the 3G-enabled iPad and iPad 2, infringe on a Motorola-held patent that has to do with a "method for performing a countdown function during a mobile-originated transfer for a packet radio system" and has been declared essential to the GPRS standard. The iPhone 4S isn't mentioned because it wasn't around when the case began, but it's expected that Apple's new handset also infringes on the Motorola patent.

Now that the ruling has been handed down, Motorola can issue a €100 million ($133 million) bond and hit Apple with an injunction against the infringing products. It's likely that Apple will try to appeal the decision and put a potential ban on hold, but it also has the options to change its products so that the infringing feature is no longer there or license the patent from Motorola. Additionally, FOSS Patents points out that Apple is currently attempting to invalidate the patent in a Federal Patent Court in Munich. 

Although Apple's gotten a few court victories in the past, the Cupertino firm hasn't had much success as of late. Last night we learned that an Australian court denied an Apple appeal concerning the overturning of an injunction against the Galaxy Tab 10.1, and earlier this month a U.S. judge denied Apple's request for a preliminary injunction against several Samsung Galaxy devices, including the Tab 10.1. It's not yet clear exactly what'll happen next in the case between Motorola and Apple, but it seems likely that Apple's going to do all it can to avoid a ban. We'll keep you updated on all the court proceedings as we learn more!

Via The Verge, FOSS Patents