Motorola’s Xoom tablet could be next in the firing line for Apple’s patent war lawyers.

A preliminary EU-wide injunction imposed by a German court yesterday saw Samsung’s Galaxy Tab tablet withdrawn from sale in the EU, and, according to a prominent patents blogger, Motorola is also facing trouble.
“Prior to or simultaneously with the motion for a preliminary injunction against Samsung, Apple also filed a complaint with the same court over the design of the Motorola Xoom tablet,” said Florian Mueller on the Foss Patents blog.
“Apple filed with the same court in Düsseldorf a complaint over the design of the Motorola Xoom, but it doesn’t state whether that complaint included a request for a preliminary injunction,” he added.
“While it’s not stated explicitly, I suppose that the complaint against Motorola also asks the court for an EU-wide injunction – but perhaps just for a permanent injunction without a previous preliminary one.”
A permanent injunction application may be more likely to succeed because the Xoom has been on sale for more than a month, Mueller said.
Preliminary injunctions are more normally used to challenge a product when it first comes to market.
Apple and Motorola are already involved in a dispute involving 40 patents in the US, and the war appears to have spread to the European courts.
We contacted both firms, but neither have yet to reply.
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