Google can’t seem to stop winning lately, and, aside from Android growing and growing and growing, the on-going legal battles of the past couple of years are unfolding pretty well for the search giant. Less than a week after finding out that Oracle has been ordered to pay around $300,000 to Google in legal fees, a US patent case between Apple and Motorola has been dismissed before reaching court.
The trial was scheduled to start today, but Judge Richard Posner issued a tentative ruling cancelling its start, due to neither parties being able to “establish a right to relief”. Both Apple and Google-owned Motorola accused the other party of infringing several patents. However, Moto’s claims were always considered weaker by experts, and less likely to garner Motorola a strategic or financial win.
In fact, Motorola’s first statement regarding Judge Posner’s ruling proves that the company was hoping for the case to be dismissed before reaching court. “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” said Moto officials to the guys at The Verge.
While the global legal war between Apple and Motorola is far from finished, with several German, US, and Asian trials set to take place in the near future, you should know that this particular case is not itself over yet.
 |
| Judge Richard Posner |
For those of you who aren’t fluent in “legalese”, a tentative ruling is just a provisional one, so there’s still a chance this particular case will be trialed in court after all. In fact, Judge Richard Posner says in his June 7 order that “I will delay entry of judgment until I have prepared a full opinion, because in the course of that preparation I may change my mind.”
The “fuller explanation” that will follow this tentative ruling is expected to be made available sometime this week, probably on Thursday or Friday. I know, it may seem like a bizarre thing to express one opinion and give a ruling, but at the same time warn that you could have a change of heart only a few days later, but, believe it or not, that’s how the legal system works these days.
You should also know that, even if Judge Posner’s final ruling will be to dismiss the case, there’ll most likely still be an appeal made by Apple soon. If the appeal will not overturn the initial decision, the case will be forever dismissed. But that doesn’t mean good ol’ Apple will not find several other patents to accuse Moto of infringing, or even the same patents with slightly tweaked claims.
Keep in touch with our website to find out Judge Posner’s final ruling later this week, but also for other juicy details about future battles in this endless legal war. In the meantime, you can take a look at the full tentative ruling at this link here or you can drop us a comment and let us know if you’ve had enough of these ridiculous legal battles.
Post a Comment