Apple Sales Injunction Suspended: German iPad/iPhone Sales Resume

Apple has been granted a suspension of the German injunction against 3G-enabled iOS devices, with the iPad WiFi + 3G, iPhone 4 and other gadgets back on sale through the company's online store. "All iPad and iPhone models will be back on sale through Apple's online store in Germany shortly" the company told us in a statement. "Apple appealed this ruling because Motorola repeatedly refuses to license this patent to Apple on reasonable terms, despite having declared it an industry standard patent seven years ago."

Motorola had succeeded in having most of Apple's 3G-enabled range blocked from sale in Germany after a ruling last December, with the injunction going into effect earlier today. However, Apple managed to have the injunction suspended amid claims that Motorola refused to license the 3G/UMTS patent in question under FRAND terms.

Those terms – "fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory" – mean that Motorola must agree to license the patent, deemed necessary to 3G/UMTS standards, to anyone who requests it. Motorola runs the risk of encouraging unwanted attention from the European Commission if the company is believed to be not playing by FRAND rules; Samsung is under antitrust investigation over similar behaviors.

The injunction enacted today comes at the same time as Motorola was granted a second injunction, this time over iCloud rather than FRAND patents. It's unclear if Motorola will stump up the €100m bond required to actually follow through on that injunction, however.