A judge in Munich ruled on the sales ban. Cars currently at dealerships may also be destroyed because Ford is breaking the rules. A total of eight patent owners complained about the infringement of the mobile communications licenses. The plaintiff in the Munich court was Japanese patent operator IP Bridge. Ford initially did not comment on the matter to Wirtschaftswoche. The automaker can still appeal the verdict.
Lately, there has been a lot of talk about the techniques that automakers use in their vehicles. In addition, more and more lawsuits are being filed by patent holders to have car manufacturers pay license fees for the use of the mobile technology. The chips must be built into every car because of the electric drive, but also increasingly take over entertainment and navigation functions.
Last year Ford sold about 126,400 cars in Germany, good for millions of euros in turnover. The group was the seventh largest car manufacturer in the German market.