Apple, Google appeal Posner's toss-out of patent case

Both companies appeal Judge Richard Posner's dismissal ruling, some have seen as a possible catalyst for a patent- overhaul. Also: Google argues that tech that catches with consumers should be seen by the courts as a facto standard.

Apple and Google have appealed a ruling by U.S. Circuit Judge Richard Posner that flat- dismissed an iOS and Android-related patent case the two companies.

Both tech giants filed notices yesterday regarding the June 22 ruling, Bloomberg reported. Posner had canceled a jury trial the tit-for-tat infringement claims, saying neither company had been to prove damages and that neither would be allowed to refile claims in this case, which has been lurching in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Illinois (Chicago).

The two companies have been duking it over their respective mobile OSes for some time now, as Apple " thermonuclear war" -- in the words of Steve Jobs -- on Android and the device makers that rely the software. The struggle is taking in various countries and courtrooms the world.

Posner has been particularly critical the patent system, saying in a recent essay The Atlantic that "the cost of patenting and the cost of resolving disputes that may when competitors have patents are a social waste."

Because of Posner's lofty reputation, his ruling in the case has seen by some as a watershed moment that could possibly spark a patent-system overhaul of kind.

In related news, Google's lawyers are claiming that technologies that catch on consumers should be considered de facto standards and handled somewhat like so- frand patents, as noted in a summation yesterday AllThingsD's John Paczkowski.

Frand patents cover technologies an industry has agreed to accept standards, provided the patent holders in agree to license them reasonable rates. Posner skewered Google's lawyers for seeking injunctive relief based such a patent. How can a company that's agreed license a standards-essential technology then balk when a company that's willing pay fees uses the tech, Posner wondered.

Paczkowski capsulizes Apple's response the recent Google claim thus: 'Standardized technologies facilitate interoperability disparate devices by giving them the core functionality. They create a platform for competition. Non-standardized technologies differentiate those devices, create competition, and innovation in the marketplace. Subjecting non-standards-essential patents the same rules as those governing standards-essential ones hamper innovation and harm consumers.'

But Google argues that patents such now seemingly fundamental smart- features as multitouch or slide-to-lock can be abused just as easily frand patents and can thus end up stifling competition.


Adapted from: CNET, July 21, 2012.