Earlier today, Germany's top civil court ruled against Apple Inc. in a long standing patent case concerning the swipe-to-unlock feature present in the company's smartphones.

According to the ruling, the technology was not 'sophisticated enough' to be considered for patent protection.

According to Bloomberg, the court said:"This user-friendly display was already suggested by the state of the art. The contested patent thus isn't based on an invention."

The patent dispute is part of a long standing feud between the Cupertino, a California based tech giant and  Lenovo by Motorola Mobility.

Yesterday's decision echoes that of another German court some years ago.

Back in April 2013, The Register reported that the federal patent court in Munich had already invalidated Apple's claim because the swipe-to-unlock technology was not an 'innovation' under the criteria of the European law. The company decided to take the case to Germany's Federal Court Of Appeals but it ended in the result we are seeing today.

9 to 5 Mac notes that this whole situation began in 2012, when Apple secured an injunction against Motorola. However with the way the courts have ruled over the last 3 years it looks like the case will not end in Apple's favor.

Apple insider mentions that the patent has been the foundation of many of Apple's court cases against Android OEMs.

"Both American and European "slide-to-unlock" patents were once instrumental in Apple's legal campaign against Android device makers, borne out of former CEO Steve Jobs' accusations that the OS stole ideas from the iPhone "says the site.

Samsung, Apple's long standing rival in many legal tussles, was also caught up in a similar case last year. However US Judge Kimberly Moore was not convinced that the patent infringement did irreparable harm to Apple.