A German district court has ruled that Apple infringed on patents acquired by Swiss security company Kudelski (OpenTV), which could force Apple to remove some of the streaming features from its Apple video services.
The ruling of three judges of the Duesseldorf district court said Tuesday that Apple has to supply software that infringes an OpenTV patent, which covers the mixing of video, audio and online information in a single video stream. .
The court's decision puts pressure on Apple to pursue a licensing agreement with the Kudelski company, although the American tech leviathan could comply by removing or disabling the infringing features of its Apple video services products. In the worst case, you would have to withdraw the products from the market.
Products that could be affected are iPhones, iPads, Macs, iTunes music service, QuickTime video playback software, and Apple TV - almost all of their products.
The claim is predominantly valid and well founded, the court said in its Dusseldorf ruling.
It is unclear if Apple will appeal. The company faces fines of up to € 250.000 for violations as long as it fails to comply, but the ruling did not specify how that violation could be calculated. Representatives for Apple and Kudelski declined to comment.
The German court order will go into effect once Apple has been notified in writing, where OpenTV demands 4 million euros ($ 4,5 million) by the court as potential compensation for Apple's losses, if the decision is reversed upon appeal.
Apple can apply to the regional court of appeal for a stay of execution, which can usually be obtained in a matter of weeks, and appeal the decision on the merits to that higher court. This is going to bring you several headaches with Apple's video services.