German court stays, delays separate Apple v. Samsung issues
updated 03:59 pm EDT, Fri May 4, 2012
Stay based on pending invalidation ruling
Germany's Mannheim Regional Court has stayed an Apple lawsuit against Samsung over a photo gallery page-flipping patent, says FOSS Patents. The case is now waiting on the resolution of a invalidation proceeding at the country's Federal Patent Court. Regional courts are noted to stay patent infringement cases only if the defendant shows a high chance of a patent being invalidated.
Apple actually manged to enforce the patent in the Netherlands last summer, and in Munich in March. Samsung and Motorola have also already been able to devise workarounds; it's speculated, though, that an Apple victory could be used simply to ensure that Android developers don't mimic any iOS features in the future.
The Mannheim court has also postponed a separate Apple v. Samsung decision, one on a pinch-to-zoom patent. Internal delays are blamed; a ruling will however take place on May 11th.
