Nearly a year ago we learned that Apple had filed a suit against Motorola in Germany, alleging that the XOOM was infringing upon the design of the iPad. Now we've got a ruling on the matter, and it seems that neither side had much luck. Apple claimed that the XOOM infringed three of its design patents related to the iPad, but the German court cleared Motorola's slate of any violations. In response to Apple's suit, Motorola filed a counterclaim in an attempt to invalidate an iPad design patent. However, the court rejected Moto's claim. Since the court dismissed the claims of both companies, it ordered Apple to pay two-thirds of the courts costs, while Motorola was ordered to pony up for the other third.
Apple and Motorola are no strangers to courtroom battles with one another. The two companies have gone at it over things like patent licensing and iCloud in the past, as well as this case involving the iPad and XOOM. Apple also has a case in Germany against Motorola (and Samsung) related to multi-touch. Whether or not Apple will have better luck against Moto in that case than it did in this XOOM one remains to be seen, but regardless of the outcome, I've got a feeling that the suits between the two firms won't be stopping any time soon. We'll update you with statements from Apple and Motorola on today's decision if any are issued.
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