Motorola Mobility v Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (CFI, 8 February 2025)

Dhenne Avocats · 10 October 2026

Our analysis

Summary

By an order of 8 February 2025 (ACT_47298/2024, App_63904/2024, EP 3 780 758), the judge-rapporteur of the Munich Local Division (Judge Pichlmaier) rejected in its entirety the confidentiality application filed under Rule 262A by the defendants, Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson and Ericsson GmbH. Ericsson sought to protect material from licence negotiations between the parties’ groups, relied on in its statement of defence. The order, brief and without numbered paragraphs, restates the purpose of Rule 262A.

Question

Can a party obtain, under Rule 262A, a restriction of its opponent’s access to information arising from negotiations between them?

Decision

No. Rule 262A protects one party’s confidential information against the other party. There is no reason to restrict a party’s access to its own information. Most of the material originated from the Lenovo group, to which Motorola belongs, and the application drew no distinction between that material and Ericsson’s. If the parties already treated the information as secret, no order was needed. If no confidentiality obligation existed, there was no reason for one either. The application was therefore unfounded as such.

Key points for practice

• Practical point: a Rule 262A application must identify precisely the applicant’s own information and why it needs protection against the opponent.

Provisions applied

Rules of Procedure

Rules 102.2, 262A and 333

Prepared by Dhenne Avocats from the official decision, consulted on 10 October 2026. The database is updated every week, on Friday. Only the official text is authoritative.