According to Bloomberg Businessweek, the Presiding Judge Holger Kircher in Apple’s lawsuit against IPCom GmbH in Mannheim, Germany boils down to whether an IPCom GmbH patent protects a technology using one or three bits for coding software used in wireless networks.
“IPCom will only win if it convinces the court the patent isn’t limited to technology using just one bit for coding information, Presiding Judge Holger Kircher said at a hearing in Mannheim, Germany,” Karin Matussek writes Bloomberg Businessweek. “IPCom is relying on a patent for technology to decide what call gets priority on a mobile network when more than one is placed at the same time.”
“One or three bits, that’s the key issue here,” said Kircher. “We will issue a separate ruling on this — which means we won’t even touch the question today of what amount of damages would be warranted in case of an infringement finding.”
IPCom argues device makers and phone companies are using the technology in the 3G wireless standard. The company is seeking 1.57 billion euros in damages from Apple for its use in the iPhone in Germany alone., the report said.
“It doesn’t really matter how many bits are used, the patent is talking about one set of information, not about the number of bits used to code that information,” Bernhard Frohwitter, IPCom’s managing director, told the court.
Apple’s lawyer Wolrad Prinz zu Waldeck und Pyrmont argued the language of the patent is restricted to one bit while the 3G standard uses three bits. The court shouldn’t allow an interpretation that goes beyond the actual language the patent was granted for, he said.
According to Foss patent, the patent in question is EP1841268. This patent has recently (on January 22, 2014) been the subject of a validity decision by the European Patent Office, in the first instance.
The court set a Feb. 28 date for a ruling in today’s case.
