Apple v. Motorola, HTC case consolidated; Psystar Supreme Court appeal denied
Apple got its wish to consolidate a trial filed by Motorola Mobility in the Southern District of Florida with a second lawsuit that also involves HTC. Meanwhile, an appeal by Mac clone maker Psystar to the U.S. Supreme Court in Apple's copyright infringement case against it has been denied
Apple, Motorola, HTC
Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents reported on Monday that Apple had won a "fairly useful case management victory" in its disagreement with Motorola Mobility. Federal Judge Robert Scola granted Apple's request to fully consolidate Motorola's case against Apple with Apple's case against Motorola and HTC.
Both of Apple's competitors had opposed the move. Mueller notes that HTC will have to hope for a successful motion to sever or else defend itself alongside Motorola.
Judge Scola did, however, grant HTC's request for a later trial date. The trial for the newly-consolidated case has been set for April 2014. Apple had proposed a December 2013 trial date, while Motorola had sought March 2013.
The judge said he issued the order to consolidate the cases because "the parties [Apple, Motorola, HTC] have shown a complete inability to agree upon anything and it is frustrating the progress of these cases."
"Motorola has just lost its only realistic near-term chance to enforce any non-standard-essential U.S. patent against Apple," Mueller noted. "In Florida, Motorola now has the worst of both worlds: it has to deal with a somewhat-inflated lawsuit (12 Apple patents, 12 Motorola patents and, at least for now, a third defendant (HTC) on board) that apparently won't be resolved for about two years."
The one concession Motorola received on Monday was permission by the court to add six more patents to its complaint, bringing the total to 12.
Mueller went on to point out that Motorola appeared to have made a mistake in its legal strategy. After a judge blocked Motorola's attempts to the iPhone 4S and iCloud to its lawsuit, the company then decided to file a second lawsuit against Apple. The iPhone maker then responded with its own counterclaim, asserting six more patents against Motorola and simultaneously wielding them against HTC.
"Apple's strategy has worked out," Mueller said. "It cleverly leveraged Motorola's second Florida lawsuit. Motorola wanted too much too soon -- in retrospect, Motorola presumably regrets having brought that second Florida lawsuit instead of waiting until the first case at least had an absolutely firm trial date."
According to the report, it's possible that HTC could succeed in transferring its portion of the case to a different court, though the Taiwanese handset maker will not likely be granted its request to move the claims to Delaware.
The legal battle between Apple and Motorola includes ongoing cases in California, Illinois and Europe. One judge recently accused Apple of submitting too many "frivolous filings" and threatened to punish the company if it continued to do so. Motorola has succeeded in winning an injunction against push notifications in Apple's iCloud service, though the company is also being investigated by the European Commission for suspected abuse of its standards-essential patents.
Psystar
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected on Monday Psystar's appeal of an earlier decision that it had violated Apple's copyrights by selling its "OpenMac" computers, CNet reports.
Psystar lost an attempt to appeal last September after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit sided with Apple. The original decision, which banned Pystar from selling hardware running Apple's operating system, dates back to December 2009. Shortly after the decision, Psystar's attorney revealed that the company would be "shutting things down immediately"
Apple first sued Psystar in 2008 in an effort to block the company from selling its knock-off computers. Psystar also sold software that helped users install Mac OS X 10.6 on compatible PCs.
Earlier this year, Apple lost a fight to keep some of its "trade secrets" sealed in its case against Psystar. Judge William Alsup ruled that the information in question was already "publicly available."
Apple, Motorola, HTC
Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents reported on Monday that Apple had won a "fairly useful case management victory" in its disagreement with Motorola Mobility. Federal Judge Robert Scola granted Apple's request to fully consolidate Motorola's case against Apple with Apple's case against Motorola and HTC.
Both of Apple's competitors had opposed the move. Mueller notes that HTC will have to hope for a successful motion to sever or else defend itself alongside Motorola.
Judge Scola did, however, grant HTC's request for a later trial date. The trial for the newly-consolidated case has been set for April 2014. Apple had proposed a December 2013 trial date, while Motorola had sought March 2013.
The judge said he issued the order to consolidate the cases because "the parties [Apple, Motorola, HTC] have shown a complete inability to agree upon anything and it is frustrating the progress of these cases."
"Motorola has just lost its only realistic near-term chance to enforce any non-standard-essential U.S. patent against Apple," Mueller noted. "In Florida, Motorola now has the worst of both worlds: it has to deal with a somewhat-inflated lawsuit (12 Apple patents, 12 Motorola patents and, at least for now, a third defendant (HTC) on board) that apparently won't be resolved for about two years."
The one concession Motorola received on Monday was permission by the court to add six more patents to its complaint, bringing the total to 12.
Mueller went on to point out that Motorola appeared to have made a mistake in its legal strategy. After a judge blocked Motorola's attempts to the iPhone 4S and iCloud to its lawsuit, the company then decided to file a second lawsuit against Apple. The iPhone maker then responded with its own counterclaim, asserting six more patents against Motorola and simultaneously wielding them against HTC.
"Apple's strategy has worked out," Mueller said. "It cleverly leveraged Motorola's second Florida lawsuit. Motorola wanted too much too soon -- in retrospect, Motorola presumably regrets having brought that second Florida lawsuit instead of waiting until the first case at least had an absolutely firm trial date."
According to the report, it's possible that HTC could succeed in transferring its portion of the case to a different court, though the Taiwanese handset maker will not likely be granted its request to move the claims to Delaware.
The legal battle between Apple and Motorola includes ongoing cases in California, Illinois and Europe. One judge recently accused Apple of submitting too many "frivolous filings" and threatened to punish the company if it continued to do so. Motorola has succeeded in winning an injunction against push notifications in Apple's iCloud service, though the company is also being investigated by the European Commission for suspected abuse of its standards-essential patents.
Psystar
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected on Monday Psystar's appeal of an earlier decision that it had violated Apple's copyrights by selling its "OpenMac" computers, CNet reports.
Psystar lost an attempt to appeal last September after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit sided with Apple. The original decision, which banned Pystar from selling hardware running Apple's operating system, dates back to December 2009. Shortly after the decision, Psystar's attorney revealed that the company would be "shutting things down immediately"
Apple first sued Psystar in 2008 in an effort to block the company from selling its knock-off computers. Psystar also sold software that helped users install Mac OS X 10.6 on compatible PCs.
Earlier this year, Apple lost a fight to keep some of its "trade secrets" sealed in its case against Psystar. Judge William Alsup ruled that the information in question was already "publicly available."
Comments
May as well cancel it with a court date that far off. Or grow up and talk it out like adults do.
I can't believe Psystar is still trying to make a case... I thought that company was toast.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Apple v. Samsung
May as well cancel it with a court date that far off. Or grow up and talk it out like adults do.
It seems that that's what the decision effectively achieves. Too bad for those that were entertained by those lawsuits.
We need a dedicated cable channel to follow Apple lawsuits. That would be the real Apple TV.
Being a member of the Apple legal team:
The very definition of job security.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Apple v. Samsung
...Or grow up and talk it out like adults do.
Are you aware that this was attempted multiple times by Apple before they went to court?
That would be funny if it wasn't funny ... Wait a minute ...
Quote:
Originally Posted by ankleskater
We need a dedicated cable channel to follow Apple lawsuits. That would be the real Apple TV.
Have any ideas as to the name of the channel or show? I'll start... Order in the Core (as in Apple core)... A Peels Core (as in appeals court)???
Yeah, yeah... stupid I know...
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pretty good... but you killed it by explaining the joke...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Macky the Macky
I can't believe Psystar is still trying to make a case... I thought that company was toast.
Psystar is a zombie company.
You know the old adage about cockroaches.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Apple v. Samsung
May as well cancel it with a court date that far off. Or grow up and talk it out like adults do.
I suspect that's why the judge is doing it. Rather than risking setting up a case to get appealed by making them cut down their patents etc, delay it and encourage them to work it out. I wouldn't be shocked if HTC files a motion to separate themselves from all this so they can try to settle with Apple directly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Macky the Macky
I can't believe Psystar is still trying to make a case... I thought that company was toast.
They see this as a kind of moral issue so of course they tried to go all the way. And lost since there is no Mac Computer Market for them to leverage their case on. Vertical integration and restricting use of non standards IP is not illegal, despite their claims.
On a related note China has finally cleared the purchase of Motorola, with Google expected to close the deal next week. The only requirement of note was the Chinese stipulated that Android remain free and open for the next five years.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gatorguy
The only requirement of note was the Chinese stipulated that Android remain free and open for the next five years.
Well, guess that deal's off, then. It's neither free nor open now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
Well, guess that deal's off, then. It's neither free nor open now.
LOL, such a kidder...