Good and Bad Legal News for Apple and iPhone This Week

Legal-wise, this week has been a mixed bag so far for Apple and its iPhone. The “good” news first: on Tuesday, TMCnet contributing editor Susan Campbell reported that T-Mobile won a case in Germany involving the sale of Apple’s iPhone. A German court reversed an injunction against the carrier that would have required it to sell an unlocked version of iPhone.

 

Now, T-Mobile is free to remain the exclusive provider of iPhone in Germany, offering it only as a locked device with a two-year contract. iPhone is locked with a SIM card that prevents users from using the device with any other operator’s network.

 

Campbell reported that the injunction was brought by T-Mobile competitor Vodafone.

 

In response to its win, T-Mobile turned around and announced that it will offer an unlocked, contract-free iPhone for $1,481, quite a price hike compared with the locked device that sells for $581.85.

 

In her report, Campbell noted that Apple, too, must be breathing a sigh of relief over the ruling. That’s because the company “offers specific partners exclusive iPhone selling rights in exchange for a percentage of the monthly subscription rights. It has been estimated that Apple enjoys as much as 10 percent of the proceeds.”

 

So far Apple is sticking to its exclusive partner strategy as it makes iPhone available in different parts of the world. In the U.S., iPhone is available only through AT&T. In Britain, the carrier is O2, in Germany it’s T-Mobile (division of Deutsche Telekom) and in France it’s Orange (an arm of France Telecom).

 

Okay, so for Apple that’s the good news. The bad news is that when one lawsuit is satisfactorily resolved, another one pops up. Next in line: a suit (filed in Federal Court, Eastern District of Texas by law firm Dovel & Luner) brought by Klausner Technologies, claiming Apple and AT&T are violating its visual voicemail patents.

 

In question are U.S. Patents 5,572,576 and 5,283,818. These involve “visual voicemail” features that allow users to selectively retrieve voicemail messages using visual, onscreen navigation. TMCnet editor Patrick Barnard reported that Klausner's technology has been licensed by companies like Time Warner AOL and Vonage to enable their visual voicemail systems.

 

Klausner said it has successfully litigated against infringers of the involved patents on two occasions, and intends to do the same with Apple and AT&T. Klausner seeks damages and future royalties (estimated at $360 million) from both companies.

 

It appears that Klausner is currently on a suing spree. Barnard reported that, also this week, the company filed suits against eBay’s Skype unit, Comcast and Cablevision. A couple months ago, Klausner also settled a suit out-of-court that it brought against Vonage.