Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Posner Dismisses Apple/Motorola Case, With Prejudice

Posted by Soulskill on from the get-out-and-stay-out dept.

whisper_jeff writes "Judge Posner has dismissed the patent case between Apple and Motorola, with prejudice (meaning they can't refile), putting an end to this patent dispute between the two companies. Posner wrote, 'Both parties have deep pockets. And neither has acknowledged that damages for the infringement of its patents could not be estimated with tolerable certainty.' I know many on Slashdot will be happy to hear Apple's lawsuit failed; I am happier to hear that Motorola has been prevented from abusing FRAND patents, a situation I feel could set a very bad, very dangerous precedent for the entire industry."

1 of 146 comments (clear)

  1. Patent portfolio not so great, aktsually... by Areyoukiddingme · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Isn't this bad news for all of those companies who think they've built a huge defensive portfolio of patents to use in countersuits? Even fairly legitimate patents at that. The disinterested observer doesn't have to work very hard to conclude that Motorola's patents are fundamental to cellular phones and are therefore very valuable, while Apple's software patents are worthless duplicates of other people's ideas that shouldn't even be eligible for patent protection in the first place. Despite this enormous disparity, Motorola's countersuit, intended to defend themselves against Apple's foray into legal brigandage, is also dismissed with prejudice. So the fundamental hardware patents they own are useless to them as a defensive mechanism.

    Motorola has to be very unhappy right now. Even if their fundamental hardware patents are legitimate and valuable, one of the world's largest smartphone manufacturers has successfully avoided paying royalties for them, forever.

    So giant patent portfolios are worth... what, exactly?