U.S. Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner revived the patent suit between Apple and Motorola Mobility, which began with many claims and cross-claims of patent infringement, on Wednesday by scheduling a hearing for June 20th. Both the parties may press for an injunction against the other, but should be open to an unbiased settlement with appropriate royalties in the future.
Judge Posner, who is presiding over the case in the U.S. District Court for Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, said that giving injunctive relief may be difficult as it may let the alleged infringer walk almost scot free, while being unfair to the patent holder. It may also impose costs which are not comparable to the damage done. This would also go against the interest of the public in general. This was the basis on which he made his tentative opinion.
His one-page order also stated that Motorola should be willing to bear the repercussions that FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) would have on the injunction verdict if they wish to press for relief. FRAND terms are basically licensing obligations required by organizations which set standards for members that participate in the process. These organizations are the industries which set common standards for a particular industry to ensure interoperability of products manufactured by different companies.
Even the U.S. International Trade Commission has gotten involved into this imbroglio in regard to certain import bans, on the request of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. The FTC raised concerns to the ITC about the situation where the patent owner can include the FRAND approach while making a commitment and later press for an exclusion order when it is infringed, in order to gain royalty. This was with reference to ITC’s examination of the patent infringement charges filed by Motorola Mobility against both Apple as well as Microsoft.
Apple and Motorola’s intense patent litigation has covered many countries, with each company trying to legally reinstate its claims, while trying to still be friendly. This lawsuit is boiling down to whether a component manufacturer’s FRAND license gets carried over to the manufacturer of an equipment who uses that component to make his equipment, as such an issue has not yet been addressed by the Supreme Court.
Judge Posner also said in his order that this lawsuit should be dismissed with prejudice, once and for all, after a careful evaluation by him. A verdict is expected in one week’s time.
