Apple, Motorola both try for summary judgment in US lawsuit
updated 04:10 pm EDT, Mon April 30, 2012
Apple and Motorola try to accelerate case
Apple and Motorola in near-tandem have motioned for summary judgment in Apple's Wisconsin-based lawsuit over alleged Motorola violations of patents. The actions, both filed on Friday, would have Apple try to have some of its patent claims validated while Motorola wanted the majority of Apple's patent arguments ruled invalid. Most of Motorola's objections center around Apple's attempts to find Motorola violating its commitment to FRAND (fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory) patent licensing for 3G and Wi-Fi, effectively shutting down the lawsuit itself.
Apple, meanwhile, was hoping for a partial verdict to solidify construction of some of those same claims. Full details of what was at dispute have remained under a court seal so far.
Grants in either direction could be decisive, either upholding some of the framework of Apple's argument and making it harder for Motorola or else finding Motorola innocent in most respects.
Motorola has based large parts of its litigation against Apple, both in countersuits and first-strike claims, on standards patents. This has had some impact at the ITC, but hasn't affected Apple in civil cases. The iPhone designer has taken to trying to block further lawsuits by arguing that Motorola is violating patent exhaustion concepts by trying to charge Apple for a patent royalty already paid up by Qualcomm. [via Florian Mueller]
