ASUS Germany’s website has returned online after being inaccessible for several days, but the relaunch comes with a significant caveat: the full range of desktops and laptops is missing from the product listings. The omission stems from a legal injunction imposed by the Munich I Regional Court, which bars the sale of certain models over a patent dispute involving the HEVC/H.265 video codec.
The court ruled that ASUS and Acer had not secured licensing terms under Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) conditions—a requirement for using the HEVC standard. While ASUS has restored access to peripherals and other product categories, the desktop and laptop sections remain empty, leaving German customers without direct purchasing options for those lines.
Acer’s situation remains unresolved. Unlike ASUS, which at least restored partial functionality, Acer’s German site continues to display a maintenance notice, leaving no alternative for customers seeking direct support or downloads. The prolonged outage has also disrupted access to essential resources, including firmware updates and support documentation, for users across the country.
Both companies have indicated they are working toward a resolution, but the legal impasse has forced them to comply with the court’s temporary restrictions. In the meantime, customers in Germany can still acquire affected desktops and laptops through third-party retailers, though the court’s injunction may apply to those channels as well.
The disparity between ASUS’s partial recovery and Acer’s complete outage highlights operational differences in how the two companies are addressing the crisis. While ASUS opted to reopen its site—albeit without the restricted products—Acer has maintained a full shutdown, raising questions about its internal strategy for navigating the legal challenge.
For now, German consumers face a fragmented experience: ASUS users can browse peripherals and other hardware, while Acer customers remain locked out entirely. The situation underscores the broader impact of patent disputes on supply chains, particularly in markets where regional legal rulings can disrupt access to core products.
The court’s decision has also created a ripple effect beyond direct sales. Users attempting to access support resources—such as BIOS updates or driver downloads—have reported difficulties, as the regional site restrictions appear to have extended to auxiliary services. This has left some customers scrambling for alternative sources, though not all may meet the same compliance standards.
As the dispute continues, both companies are under pressure to resolve the licensing issue swiftly. The absence of desktops and laptops on ASUS’s site, combined with Acer’s ongoing outage, suggests that the legal battle could drag on, leaving German consumers in limbo for the foreseeable future.
