Apple has been forced to remove its iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and 3G iPad 2 devices from the German online Apple store following a patent battle with Motorola Mobility, according to a report from Business Week.

The dispute is centred on a patent license held by Motorola concerning a GPRS module that it believes is being infringed upon by Apple in their older Infineon chipset devices. As a result of the action, a German court has taken the decision to suspend sales through retail channels in the country until the patent issue is resolved. As the iPhone 4S is powered by a Qualcomm baseband chip, it is exempt from the ban.

Apple has rejected the injunction on the grounds that Motorola refused to license the patent on a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) basis, and have gone on to state that the products in question will still be available in Apple stores and via authorised dealers.

The dispute is one of several court cases currently being fought by the Californian tech giant – an unrelated case involving patents concerning the iCloud service, also involving Motorola, was recently lost by Apple in the same Mannheim court.