Apple: Motorola Lost The Right To Sue Us When They Sold Their Soul To Android

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Photo by blitzmaerker - http://flic.kr/p/7yWTDR
Photo by blitzmaerker - http://flic.kr/p/7yWTDR

Apple wants courts to pause lawsuits with Motorola Mobility, claiming the Schaumberg, Il. company transferred ownership of contentious patents to Google. The legal wrangling cannot be settled until the Android maker’s acquisition of Motorola is finalized, the Cupertino, Calif. company charges.


“Apple should not have to face the threat of an injunction based on the claims of a party that has no standing to bring those claims,” the iPhone maker stated in motions filed with the southern District of Florida. Lack of standing means a company does not have the right to sue.

In a second case Apple filed against Motorola Mobility in Wisconsin, the company asks for a pause, saying if it won the case prior to Google’s August merger finalized, “it risks an attack on its victory on appeal by a third party, whether Google or another Android smartphone manufacturer, contending that the judgement should be overturned due to lack of prudential standing.”

Apple, court papers, descriptively called the merger of Motorola Mobility with Google “one of the most significant transactions in the technology industry” and pointed to earlier comments that the deal would “protect” Android. That comment could be a reference to Apple’s recent wins against Samsung and HTC.

The legal tangle does not end here. Apple is hoping a third Wisconsin case it has brought against Motorola Mobility continues. In that instance, Apple charges Motorola is not providing fair and non-discriminatory licensing. Elsewhere, a back-and-forth before the ITC continues, with Motorola’s claims against Apple stymied by the retirement of an Administrative Law Judge while Apple’s case against Motorola expected to be determined by the end of November.

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