German court to rule on Apple lawsuit end-February

A German court said Tuesday it will issue its verdict on a copyright violation lawsuit against US tech giant Apple by a German firm at the end of the month.

"The verdict will be issued on February 28," a court spokesman told AFP.

German patent-holding company IPCom is seeking 1.57 billion euros ($2.0 billion) in damages from Apple for allegedly infringing a patent it holds on mobile technology that allows priority access to certain mobile phone calls even when a network is saturated.

IPCom acquired the patent from German engineering company Bosch in 2007.

The European Patent Office recently confirmed that IPCom owned the patent, which had been contested by several firms.