Judge Throws Out Apple VS Google Patent Lawsuit

A US federal judge has cancelled the June 11 trial between Apple and Motorola Mobility because neither party can prove it has suffered damages.

The iPhone manufacturer had previously claimed that Motorola and its new owner Google were infringing on two of its patents in manufacturing of smartphones and tablets. In return, Motorola had sued Apple for illegally using one of its patents.

Don’t irritate the judge

The decision to cancel the trial came from the legendary judge Richard Posner in Chicago court on Thursday, reports Reuters. The case was “dismissed with prejudice”, which, in layman’s terms, means both companies should stop wasting the judge’s time.

Posner, who specialises in fast decisions on tech issues, also said that granting any kind of injunction “would be contrary to the public interest”. The judge has promised to explain his ruling further within a week. Since this is a “tentative” decision, Posner has reserved the right to change it, if new information becomes available.

The first jury trial on June 11 was meant to establish whether Motorola violated two Apple patents, with two more infringement claims previously thrown out of court. Following that, a second trial would examine whether Apple violated one (initially three) Motorola patents.

“We are pleased by the Illinois trial court’s tentative ruling today dismissing Apple’s patent claims and look forward to receiving the full decision,” Google said in a statement.

In March, Posner ordered Google and Motorola to hand over the data regarding the development of Android, as well as the details of the merger, to Apple. However, this information didn’t seem to have any impact on the case.

The trial would have been the first between the companies since Google acquired Motorola Mobility for £8 billion, a sale finally approved last month by shareholders and regulators alike.

It is one of numerous lawsuits worldwide between Apple, the manufacturer of the most popular phone in the world, and Motorola Mobility which ditched its proprietary OS in favour of Google’s Android in 2009.

Some analysts have speculated that buying a hardware company will make Google more like Apple, and put other hardware makers in a more difficult position.

How much do you know about the iPhone’s rivals? Take our quiz!