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 The appeals court also revived a patent claim Motorola Mobility had
made against Apple but ruled Motorola could not seek a sales ban of
its own.
Apple and companies that make phones using Google's Android software
have filed dozens of such lawsuits against each other around the
world to protect their technology. Apple, in particular, argues that
Android phones that use Google software copy its iPhones.
In litigation between technology companies that boast multi-billion
dollar margins, court-ordered sales bans are seen as a far more
serious threat than monetary damages. Despite years of court
challenges to Android, Apple has not been able to win a crippling
injunction.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit had been hearing
two cases — one in which Apple accused Motorola Mobility, which has
since been bought by Google, of infringing its patents. Motorola, in
turn, accused Apple of infringing three patents, including one that
is essential to ensuring smartphones are interoperable.
The cases were consolidated at the U.S. District Court for the
Northern District of Illinois. Judge Richard Posner, who took the
case, dismissed it in 2012 before trial, saying that neither company
had sufficient evidence to prove its case.
The appeals court considered six patents in the two cases — three
belonging to Apple and three to Motorola Mobility. The two companies
had appealed a variety of issues, ranging from the definitions of
some patents to whether money damages were sufficient for
infringement or if sales bans should be put on infringing products.
Posner had ruled an injunction barring the sale of Motorola phones
would harm consumers. He also had ruled that even if infringement
occurred, Apple could not sue because it could not prove it had been
hurt by the infringement. But the appeals court decided Posner
defined one of Apple's patents too narrowly and ordered him to
reconsider Apple's request for an injunction.
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The appeals court affirmed the lower court's decisions on two
Motorola Mobility patents. But, as in the case of the Apple patent,
it disagreed with the lower court's decision that Motorola Mobility
would be entitled to no damages even if infringement was proven on a
third patent. The appeals court said, however, that Motorola
Mobility cannot request an injunction for infringement of that
patent, the appeals court said.
Since the appeal began, Google announced that it was selling
Motorola Mobility's handset business to Lenovo but would keep the
vast majority of the patents. It is unclear if Lenovo will assume
liability in the patent fights.
Apple and Google both declined to comment.
The case is at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and
is Apple Inc. V. Motorola Mobility. It is case number 2012-1528,
-1549.
(Reporting by Diane Bartz and Dan Levine;
editing by Doina Chiacu
and Dan Grebler)
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