Judge cancels Apple v. Motorola jury trial
updated 05:01 pm EDT, Thu June 7, 2012
Lawsuit could still go to bench trial
A federal judge has canceled plans for an Apple v. Motorola jury trial that was scheduled to start next Monday in Chicago, reports say. The news emerged during a pretrial conference held at 12:30PM local time, when Judge Posner noted that neither of the parties were entitled to damages. Without any damages involved, a jury is not required in the case.
The lawsuit may still be alive however, as a jury isn't needed to decide injunctive relief, which would block sales of Apple and/or Motorola products found to be infringing either company's patents. The case could therefore go to a bench trial, although Posner has yet to decide whether the two parties are eligible for injunctive relief. An order is expected to be issued at a later date.
The judge has also yet to decide on the possibility of declaratory judgments. These would impose no real penalties, but would nevertheless find one or more parties in violation. Because of earlier rulings in the lawsuit, the number of patents involved has been reduced to four on Apple's side, and only one for Motorola.
