According to a media source, Motorola has prevailed in an intellectual property dispute against Cupertino's Apple.

The dispute centered on software rights related to the iCloud application.

The ruling in a German court may permit Motorola to block the sale in that country of Apple products that feature the software that allows access to iCloud.

Specifically, the court asserted that Apple infringed the patent on software that allows e-mail accounts to be synchronized between devices.

This is the second legal victory for Motorola Mobility in Germany. An earlier decision prompted Apple to remove certain device models from stores because of cellular communications patent conflicts. In that case, Apple is appealing the injunction, attempting to return the offending items to Internet sales portals.

Licensing language is still being examined to determine whether Apple can effectively appeal the injunction in German courts, the media source reports.

In another high-tech patent infringement case, camera icon Nikon is being sued by Anvik, a microelectronics company that makes lithography equipment. Anvik alleges that 12 Nikon lithography systems infringed upon original technological creations. Although Nikon denies the claim, the case has been slated for trial in May in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.

Finally, jar producer Ball has initiated legal efforts to justify its promotion of a new type of easy-pour can.

The manufacturing giant, which creates containers for both Miller and Pepsi, is seeking approval in federal court for a design that is similar to that created by Crown Holdings. Crown is the company that initially created the bottle cap. Most recently, the company created an easy-pour design to make cans easier to fill for manufacturers and easier for consumers to use.

Source Title: Bloomberg: "Motorola Mobility, Nikon, MSF, EFF: Intellectual Property," Victoria Slind-Flor, Feb. 6, 2012