Who is Apple’s New FRIEND?

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Motorola unit have struck a deal that will give the iPhone maker access to some of the latter’s standard-essential patents, though only in Germany.

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Essential patents, considered central to the technology standard, must necessarily be licensed by companies holding them under fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms even to direct rivals.

According to Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents, the deal is a “significant development” and means that Google will have to rely on non-standard essential patents in its ongoing patent infringement battle against Apple. “With such standard-essential patents, it appears that the only thing Google (Motorola) can do now against Apple in Germany is to push for as high a royalty rate as possible, but even in a hypothetical worst-case scenario to Apple, the limit will be the 2.25 percent rate that Motorola has been demanding for a long time,” Mueller wrote.

The deal was made public by the two companies in a court filing made with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. “Most likely, this Motorola-Apple license agreement at a FRAND rate left to be determined by the courts was concluded during this month of August,” Mueller added.

Earlier this month, the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled that the iPhone and iPad do not infringe on wireless technology patents owned by Motorola and decided against a ban on the Apple products. Priot to that, Motorola had won a temporary injunction against the iPhone and iPad over 3G patents in Germany, while Apple won an injunction against Motorola for violating its slide-to-unlock patent.

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