A federal judge in the Western District Court of Wisconsin dismissed the patent complaint filed by Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) against Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s Motorola Mobility on Monday, according to intellectual property activist, Florian Mueller, of FOSS Patents.
Based on the courtroom minutes, the court found the “case cannot proceed to trial on remaining issue”, and the presiding judge dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice.
A spokesperson from Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) released an e-mail statement to Reuters, stating the search engine giant is pleased with the court’s ruling. The spokesperson wrote, “We’re pleased that the court has dismissed Apple’s lawsuit with prejudice. Motorola has long offered licensing to our extensive patent portfolio at a reasonable and nondiscriminatory rate, in line with industry standards. We remain interested in reaching an agreement with Apple.”
During a pretrial last Tuesday, presiding justice Barbara Crabb concluded that there is no sense in asking Apple and Motorola to reach a license agreement, since both parties failed to do so during their five years of negotiation. Judge Crabb emphasized that Apple is “entitled to a license of Motorola’s patents on fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory terms.” The judge indicated that a court-determined licensed agreement may be the only remedy to resolve the case.
Motorola Mobility submitted a “motion for guidance” demanding Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) to accept a license agreement wherein the terms will be determined by the court.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) responded to Motorola Mobility’s motion that it would pay a license for Motorola Mobility’s standard-essential wireless patents, if the royalty would not exceed $1.00 per unit. Apple pointed out that Motorola cannot offer evidence that rate should be higher than $1.00. The iPhone maker emphasized that it “reserves the right exhaust all appeals and needs to reserve the right available to any party offered a license: the right to refuse and proceed to further infringement litigation…”
Last Friday, Judge Crabb issued a negative opinion on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s response to the motion of Motorola Mobility. The presiding justice expressed that the court’s concern in providing a FRAND rate that will only serve as a negotiating tool between the companies. Judge Crabb believed that it would be inappropriate to grant Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s request for clarified specific performance. According to her, providing a specific performance would not resolve the concerns of the court, based on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s position.
