Google, Motorola Ordered To Hand Over Android Data To Apple

Google and Motorola Mobility have been ordered by a US judge to hand over data regarding the development of the Android operating system to Apple.

The move was part of Apple’s patent lawsuit which is seeking information about the development of  the Android operating system.

US Court Ruling

Apple made a request to a Chicago Circuit Court last week and, according to Bloomberg, on Monday  Judge Richard A. Posner ordered Motorola Mobility and its upcoming parent company Google, to hand any relevant data about Android to Apple .

“The Android/Motorola acquisition discovery is highly relevant to Apple’s claims and defenses,” said Apple’s attorneys in a 2 March filing which requested action from the judge.

Both Google and Motorola must turn over information about the actual development of Android, as well as information on their merger, after Google revealed it would pay $12.5 billion (£7.8bn) deal to acquire Motorola Mobility back in August 2011.

The acquisition was widely viewed as a move by Google to bolster its patent portfolio.

Legal Onslaught

Apple has been waging a campaign of patent lawsuits against Android since 2010, which has turned increasingly bitter over the years. The Cupertino company has sued many other companies including HTC and Samsung, but Apple’s lawsuit against Motorola deals with six patents. Motorola is claiming that Apple violates three of its patents.

The first jury trial is set to begin 11 June and will deal with whether Motorola violated six Apple patents. Following that, a second trial will examine whether Apple violates three Motorola patents.

The late Steve Jobs had a personal vendetta against Android, which he frequently labelled was a ‘stolen product’ and vowed to destroy it.

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